Happy Kwanzaa! Celebrating Culture, Family and Community

I have always loved the holiday season. I am a big kid at heart. I do it big for Christmas. We have to have a real tree, presents, decorations, Christmas traditions and Christmas music. I love it all. My twins are almost 4, and I have passed on a lot of the Christmas traditions that I grew up with. We always get a real tree, we play Christmas music all season, and watch Christmas movies (Rudolph was my favorite growing up, and now it’s my kids’ favorite). You see, Christmas, to me, is about family. It is about focusing on the things that are most important. Family and loved ones, spending time together, creating memories. I have always loved gathering with my extended family and spending time together over food, fun and games. Family–the true meaning of the season.

Growing up, I was familiar with the Kwanzaa holiday, from an educational perspective. I learned about the concepts in school. But my family never celebrated it. This year, I think I would like to incorporate the traditions and the concept into my family. I love what Kwanzaa celebrates and what it represents. It can reinforce a lot of the principles and characteristics that I am trying to instill in my children.

So recently, I researched the holiday to familiarize myself once again with its purpose and principles. And I will say I still love what the holiday celebrates. And though it was not created to replace Christmas, I see it as a way to extend our holiday celebration and recognize our culture and teach our children meaningful lessons.

Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration. It is based on a year-long celebration at the end of the harvest that took place in Africa for thousands of years. It was first celebrated here in the United States over sixty years ago during the Civil Rights movement, as a way to celebrate the traditions of people of African heritage living in America. It is a week long holiday that begins on December 26th until January 1st. The celebration culminates with a big gathering consisting of food and gifts.

The timing of this holiday is perfect. Right before the New Year, when I, like most people, am normally a bit more retrospective and reflective. The Kwanzaa celebration can help channel that natural inclination into a more formal way and also extend the lessons I try to learn to my family.

Kwanzaa consists of seven principles, with each day of the holiday being dedicated to a different principle. Each day a candle is lit and the day focuses on a different Kwanzaa principles. These concepts and traditions are meant to inspire us to create a better community and honor the values of the African culture.

Each principle is a Swahili term and they are as follows:

Umoja, which means unity. It emphasizes the importance of family and community.

Kujichagulia (I have always loved saying this word!), which means self-determination, and stresses the importance of making decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community.

Ujima, which means collective work and responsibility, and emphasizes how we should be reminding ourselves that we have an important role in our community.

Ujamaa, which means cooperative economics, and emphasizes the importance of meeting common needs through mutual support.

Nia, which means purpose and encourages us to set personal goals to help benefit our community.

Kuumba, which means creativity, and using our gifts to create a vibrant and beautiful community.

Imani, which means faith and having the belief in ourselves that we can create a better community.

As I have already mentioned, these principles are important concepts that I want to instill in my children. The holiday in particular honors family and community, entities that I deem very important. And to have a period of time each year dedicated to exploring the concepts of unity, purpose, faith, and kujichagulia, well, it will only help to enrich my family and my children even more. I would also love to include my extended family into my celebration. I believe they will enjoy it and also get a lot of inspiration from the experience. So I’m looking forward to providing my family with this new holiday and incorporating a new family tradition in honoring our heritage and celebrating our culture.

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Rashain Carriere-Williams and her husband, Kellom, are the parents of 3 year old boy/girl twins, Aubrey Madison and Karson Michael.  She is also senior director at a non-profit agency in New Orleans, LA.