All About Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a little known about cultural (not religious) holiday celebrated by approximately 1.6% of Americans (as reported in 2004 by BIG Research). It was created in 1966 to honor universal African American heritage and culture and is observed from December 26^th to January 1^st each year.

Thought to have roots in the United States Black Nationalist movement of the 1960s, Kwanzaa was created to give African Americans an alternative to the predominant December holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah. Today, however, many Christian African Americans observe both holidays.

There are seven principles of Kwanzaa which include:

• -Umoja (Unity): “To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race”.
• -Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): “To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves stand up”.
• -Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): “To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems, and to solve them together”.
• -Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): “To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together”.
• -Nia (Purpose): “To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness”.
• -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”.
• -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”.

Major symbols of Kwanzaa are a decorative mat on which other symbols are placed, corn and crops, a candle holder with seven candles (kinara), a communal cup for pouring libations, gifts, a poster of the seven principles, and a black, red, and green flag. The symbols were designed to represent each of the seven principles. The crops are often placed in the center of the table and in modern day often include a bowl of fruit. North Raleigh Florist can send a fruit basket to your home or the home of a Kwanzaa celebrant in your life! Baskets will include fruits and gourmet items native toAfricasuch as mangos, oranges, blackberries, bananas, coffee, and coconuts.

NRFB1 — Starting at $65