Kwanzaa a secular holiday with faith at its roots - TK Barger, Toledo Blade

[TomSea]

Kwanzaa a secular holiday with faith at its roots
 This year’s observance starts Monday, goes through New Year’s Day.
By TK Barger  | BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

or the last 50 years a celebration called Kwanzaa has taken place on the seven days after Christmas. This year’s observance starts Monday and goes through New Year’s Day.

As officialkwanzaawebsite.org describes, Kwanzaa is “an African-American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, [bringing] a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.”

The website says that Kwanzaa’s “origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase ‘matunda ya kwanza’ which means ‘first fruits’ in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.”

Begun in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, now 75, a professor at California State University, Long Beach, Kwanzaa celebrates Nguzo Saba, Swahili for “seven principles,” values that are important to the community. In English, they are listed as unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

Continued: http://www.toledoblade.com/TK-Barger/2016/12/24/Kwanzaa-a-secular-holiday-with-faith-at-its-roots-This-year-s-observance-starts-Monday-goes-through-New-Year-s-Day.html