Kwanzaa celebrates African American and Pan-African culture, history, family and community.
The holiday was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana studies at Cal State Long Beach, and is typically observed on the week between Christmas and New Year’s, starting on Dec. 26.
The holiday has roots in both traditional and modern celebrations throughout Africa, and promotes values such as unity, self-determination, purpose, faith and creativity — known as the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
In a letter published this week in the Los Angeles Sentinel, Karenga wrote an annual message wishing Africans peace and solidarity, particularly in the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality.
“Kwanzaa was conceived and born in the womb, work and transformative struggles of the Black Freedom Movement… shaped by that defining decade of fierce strivings and struggles for freedom, justice and associated goods waged by Africans and other peoples of color all over the world in the 1960s,” Karenga wrote. “Kwanzaa thus came into being, grounded itself and grew as an act of freedom, an instrument of freedom, a celebration of freedom and a practice of freedom.”
The name “Kwanzaa” is derived from the Swahili phrase, “matunda ya kwanza.” At home, families can also celebrate with feasts, daily activities, reading books, or watching films that relate to the seven principles.
Karenga called it a “righteous reveling in our recaptured sense of the sacredness, soulfulness and beauty of our Black selves.”
Here are several local Kwanzaa celebrations and events across Southern California.
L.A. County
Dec. 23: Lueders Park Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration — 500 Rosecrans Avenue, Compton, 12 to 3 p.m.
Join Parenting for Liberation & Dior Sunset for a free annual Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration community event celebrating Black family and culture. The group will celebrate at Lueders Park for Kwanzaa arts & crafts activities, dance performances, and kinara…
Read the full article here