Celebration of Kwanzaa promotes cultural unity

Thursday, December 10, 1998

HOLIDAY: Festivities encourage return to African roots, values

By Aimee Phan

Daily Bruin Contributor

This winter, the menorah and Christmas tree will have to make way for another holiday symbol - the kinara.

Representing the continental ancestry of African Americans, the kinara (Swahili for "candleholder") is one of the seven basic symbols used in the celebration of Kwanzaa, a cultural African American holiday.

While most people consider Christmas and Hanukkah as the main year-end celebrations, Kwanzaa has become a formidable contender as another influential cultural festivity. More than 30 years after its grassroots inception in 1966, Kwanzaa is now celebrated by up to 28 million people worldwide.

Maulana Karenga, an author, professor and scholar-activist, created Kwanzaa during the height of the Black Liberation Movement. Karenga, who received his master's degree in political science from UCLA, is currently the director of the African American Cultural Center in Los Angeles and founder and chair of the Organization US, a social and cultural change group.

Itibari Zulu, librarian at the Center for African American Studies, believes Kwanzaa came at an ideal time, especially since people were dealing with the civil rights struggle, particularly the Watts Rebellion in Los Angeles, and needed something more inspirational in their lives.

"There was a lot of negative activity during that time and this gave people a chance to get together and do something more positive that dealt with African American culture and philosophy," said Zulu, who has been observing Kwanzaa with his family for over 23 years.

According to Chimbuko Tembo, co-assistant director of the African American Cultural Center and co-vice-chair of the Organization US, the holiday was intended to "reaffirm the communitarian vision and values of African culture and reinforce the bonds between African people everywhere."

"Kwanzaa celebrates the family, community and culture," Tembo said. "In embracing Kwanzaa, we are embracing our past and traditions. It gives us the chance to recommit ourselves to our highest ideas and to celebrate the good of life."

The name Kwanzaa was derived from the Swahili expression "matunda ya kwanza," which translates into "first fruits," based on the first harvest celebrations held in ancient Africa. The second "a" was added to "Kwanza" during the holiday's first celebration in 1966 when seven children wanted to each hold up a letter of the holiday's name and organizers realized that one child would be left out.

"Kwanza was made up of only six letters then and we wanted to accommodate the wishes of our children so Dr. Karenga just added an extra 'a,'" Tembo said. "It worked out good because now the word 'Kwanzaa' is known as the holiday."

The spiritual core of Kwanzaa lies in the "Nguzo Saba," ("Seven Principles" in Swahili), which Karenga developed in 1965 as a way for African Americans to commemorate and reaffirm the basic values retained from their African heritage. For each day of Kwanzaa, one of the Seven Principles is introduced and discussed. Members take turns explaining how they have practiced the certain principle in their daily lives.

"These principles give people values and ideals to concentrate on for the whole year," Zulu said. "They're guidelines on how to operate and perceive things."

The "Nguzo Saba" includes "Umoja" (Unity), "Kujichagulia" (Self-Determination), "Ujima" (Collective Work and Responsibility), "Ujamaa" (Cooperative Economics), "Nia" (Purpose), "Kuumba" (Creativity), and "Imani" (Faith). People can choose to celebrate these fundamental values through family or community centered activities, often culminating in a collective African "karamu" (feast) on Dec. 31.

Kwanzaa is celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. The decision to observe the holiday between Christmas and New Year's Day was based on cultural and practical reasons.

"Kwanzaa is based on an African cultural celebration that is celebrated at the end of the year," Tembo said. "Dr. Karenga also chose that time because it fit into the pattern of year-end celebrations in the U.S."

Since 1966, Kwanzaa has evolved into a holiday that is celebrated around the world.

"It's becoming more popular every year," Zulu said. "We used to struggle to make it popular, but now you can go into stores and buy Kwanzaa cards."

Akile, the founder of Kwanzaa People of Color, a Los Angeles-based organization that sponsors African American cultural festivals throughout the year, firmly believes that Kwanzaa's influence will only get bigger.

"Kwanzaa is a holiday of the new age," said Akile, a former UCLA communications student. "It's going to be around for 2,000 years and will return us from a people who had been destroyed into a cohesive element of people that has purpose with their lives."

Doing their part to spread the message of "Nguzo Saba," Kwanzaa People of Color are holding their Annual Kwanzaa Gwaride Festival from Dec. 26 to Dec. 29 in Leimert Park Village. Their 22-year-old festival is one of many Kwanzaa community celebrations available for people to participate in.

Since Kwanzaa is considered a cultural celebration and not a religious one, this allows people of all faiths to observe it along with other holidays, such as Christmas and Hanukkah. For some people, celebrating both holidays serves to enhance each festivity quite well.

Noluthando Williams, a fourth-year African American studies and international development studies student, said that although she still celebrates Christmas, Kwanzaa gives her a chance to honor her heritage.

"For many kids, Christmas is Santa Claus, a big white man, and not many children can relate to that," Williams said. "(Kwanzaa) allows me to affirm who I am and who I strive to be. It's a nice holiday to compliment Christmas."

But while Williams, who is chair of the African Student Union (ASU), has been observing Kwanzaa on her own for almost nine years, she doesn't think the ASU will hold an official Kwanzaa celebration in the near future. This is due to a 1969 incident involving the deaths of two Black Student Union members, Jonathan Huggins and Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter, who were also members of the Black Panther Party (BPP). According to various accounts, the two were killed on Jan. 17, 1969, on the steps of Campbell Hall in a shootout between members of Karenga's Organization US that was allegedly incited by the FBI. While the details of what transpired that night are still unclear, Williams feels that it wouldn't be right for ASU, which evolved from the Black Student Union, to officially sponsor a festivity created by the Organization US.

"Once I became aware of this, it really made me think twice about Kwanzaa," Williams said. "Out of respect for Bunchy Carter and Jonathan Huggins, ASU is not having an official celebration for Kwanzaa."

Tembo stated that the 1969 incident was only one of many instigated by the FBI to further aggravate the tensions between the Organization US and the Black Panthers in the late '60s.

"During the '60s, everyone carried a gun," Tembo said. "There was a shootout provoked by the FBI and shots were fired in both directions. The FBI purposely antagonized this."

Because of the continuing disputed stories, it would be difficult to ever really know what happened that night.

"There's no real documentation of what happened at the time," Zulu said. "It's been rumor after rumor, and now there's a whole new generation with more rumors."

Tembo was quick to point out that the Organization US and the BPP's legacy, the Panther Vanguard Movement, often speak at each other's forums and will continue to work with each other, indicating that their past differences have subsided.

Most agree with Tembo that people should look past political histories and realize that Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American unity.

"I decided that I would still celebrate Kwanzaa on a broader context of what it could mean," Williams said.

"It's not just about lighting candles," Akile said. "Kwanzaa is a unifying source. It's a holiday that serves to heal and remind us to return to the beginning."

For more information on Kwanzaa, call the Kwanzaa People of Color (323) 965-0935 or visit the official Kwanzaa website at www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org.

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