SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Monday is the first day of Kwanzaa, a non-religious celebration of African American culture. The annual seven-day holiday is designed to unite generations.
Kwanzaa is celebrated from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
Each day of Kwanzaa is represented by a different principle, with the first day being Umoja which means unity.
“You can’t have anything unless you have unity,” says Makeda Dread Cheatom, Executive Director of the World Beat Center, located in Balboa Park. “Unity in the community, unity in the family; You have to have that commitment. So this resets the commitment of the year.”
A traditional Kwanzaa table setting has a kinara, which holds seven candles. Each candle represents a day of the holiday. The table is typically lined with the Kwanzaa flag, which was created by Marcus Garvey. The color red symbolizes past struggles, the color black for the African nation, and the color green honors the future.
The non-religious holiday was first celebrated in 1966.
“It was started by Maulana Karenga,” says Professor Starla Lewis. “It was started because African Americans were celebrating everyone else’s holidays and not our own. One of the beauties of Kwanzaa is that it reinforces our value systems.”
The World Beat Center will host several Kwanzaa celebrations this week in honor of the multi-day holiday. It will include food, entertainment, history, and more. The celebrations will begin each day at 6:30 p.m., and everyone is invited. For more information, visit www.worldbeatcenter.org.
