Kwanzaa

Celebrating the Principles of the Nguzo Saba

December 26
Umoja (Unity) 
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

December 27
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) 
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

December 28
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) 
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

December 29
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

December 30
Nia (Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

December 31
Kuumba (Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

January 1
Imani (Faith)
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Understanding the Seven Symbols

Mazao (The Crops)
These are symbolic of African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor. 

Mkeka (The Mat)
This is symbolic of our tradition and history and therefore, the foundation on which we build. 

Kinara (The Candle Holder)
This is symbolic of our roots, our parent people -- continental Africans. 

Muhindi (The Corn)
This is symbolic of our children and our future which they embody. 

Mishumaa Saba (The Seven Candles)
These are symbolic of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, the matrix and minimum set of values which African people are urged to live by in order to rescue and reconstruct their lives in their own image and according to their own needs. 

Kikombe cha Umoja (The Unity Cup)
This is symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of unity which makes all else possible. 

Zawadi (The Gifts)
These are symbolic of the labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children. 


Text mirrored from "The Official Kwanzaa Web Site" of Dr. Maulana Karenga, founder of Kwanzaa. Please visit Dr. Karenga's site.

Umoja | Opening Ceremony
	December 26, 2005 - Rochester NY at Montgomery Neighborhood Center (10 Cady Street). Plan on a rich cultural experience where you will hear people relate the meaning of the Principles (at left) to their life and times, as well as the placement of the symbols (in the lower left column) in setting your Kwanzaa table. African attire appreciated and certainly traditional, but do "come as you are comfortable" to enjoy the evening.

Did you know ...?

Literacy Figures
	Literacy is a national problem with socio-economic ramifications; the poor are hardest hit. Within the sphere of functional illiteracy, the following groups are included: 85% of juveniles who appear in court, 50% of prison inmates; and 50% to 75% of the unemployed have minimal skills in reading and writing.

No Child Left Behind?
	Literacy is a national problem with socio-economic ramifications; the poor are hardest hit: - 23 million adults are functionally illiterate - 35 to 45 million more are marginally able to read above the third grade level - 47% of all African American 17-year-olds are functionally illiterate - 59% of Hispanics are functionally illiterate - 33% of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) mothers are functionally illiterate

Two supplemental symbols
	Bendera (The Flag) The colors of the Kwanzaa flag are the colors of the Organization Us: black, red and green; black for the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle. It is based on the colors given by the Hon. Marcus Garvey as national colors for African people throughout the world. Nguzo Saba Poster (Poster of The Seven Principles)