COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kwanzaa has been a staple in the black community for generations, by celebrating the seven core principles of the African diaspora. Those principles range from unity to faith, and should be implemented and practiced all year long, but are celebrated at the end of the year for the harvest.
Kwanzaa first started in the 1960’s as a way to celebrate and acknowledge the seven communal principles of the African American community.
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa:
- Umoja (Unity)
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
- Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
- Nia (Purpose)
- Kuumba (Creativity)
- Imani (Faith)
“You then celebrate the harvest of those principles by which we put it into action by which we live our lives every day,” said Mustafaa Shabazz, a cultural curator in the Columbus community.
Kwanzaa is celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Each day families and community members can gather to put into practice the various principles. Shabazz said that activities can range from volunteering to exemplify collective work and responsibility (Ujima) or an arts and crafts night to represent creativity (Kuumba).
“In real life events, it's being with your children for a week as well as your family and it's applying these principles to these situations so that they can learn relational skills,” said Shabazz.
Around 12.5 million Americans are celebrating the holiday according to Public Policy Polling. Shabazz encourages all families to learn more about the history and principles of the holiday so they have a good foundation going into the new year.
“They'll get to educate themselves about it, and continue to use each day to create a different type of activities for themselves and our kids to improve the quality of their lives, of the family's life, as well as the community life,” said Shabazz.
The King Arts Complex in Columbus is hosting a Kwanzaa event this Thursday to celebrate Ujamaa, or collective economics. It will be held at the Lincoln Theatre from 4 to 8 p.m.