98 Fun Facts About Kwanzaa

What does Kujichagulia, the principle honoured on the second day of Kwanzaa, mean?

Self-determination: Kujichagulia asks people to define, name, create and speak for themselves, which is why Karenga said mixing Kwanzaa's symbols with another culture's would violate it.

Who was US president when the first Kwanzaa was celebrated?

Lyndon B. Johnson was president in December 1966, when Karenga's group held the first Kwanzaa, which makes the holiday younger than the Civil Rights Act he signed in 1964.

On what date does Kwanzaa begin each year?

December 26 opens a week modelled on southern African harvest celebrations, which also fall around the turn of the year.

On what date does Kwanzaa end?

January 1 is the seventh and final day, so every Kwanzaa starts in one year and ends on the first day of the next.

The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase, "matunda ya kwanza", meaning what?

First fruits is the meaning of "matunda ya kwanza": Karenga modelled Kwanzaa on African harvest festivals such as those of the Zulu and Ashanti, then gave it a Swahili name.

By Karenga's account, why was an extra "a" added to the name Kwanzaa?

To make it seven letters long: Karenga says seven children in his organisation each wanted to represent a letter, and the Swahili word kwanza has only six.

What is the Swahili name for the seven principles of Kwanzaa?

Nguzo Saba is Swahili for "seven principles", and they explain the holiday's length: Karenga made Kwanzaa a week long so that each principle would have a day of its own.

Which Kwanzaa principle, honoured on the first day, means "unity"?

Umoja comes first for a reason: Karenga calls unity the foundation of the other six principles, the thing without which a community cannot begin its work.

Which Kwanzaa principle stands for "collective work and responsibility"?

Ujima, the third principle, asks people to build their community together and to treat a neighbour's problems as their own, to be solved together.

Which Kwanzaa principle refers to "cooperative economics"?

Ujamaa, the fourth principle, urges people to build and run their own shops and businesses and to profit from them together; the word literally means familyhood.

Which Kwanzaa principle means "purpose"?

Nia, honoured on the fifth day, asks people to treat building and developing their community as a shared vocation.

Which Kwanzaa principle stands for "creativity"?

Kuumba, the sixth principle, asks people to do as much as they can to leave their community more beautiful and beneficial than they inherited it.

Which Kwanzaa principle, honoured on the final day, means "faith"?

Imani closes the week on purpose: Karenga says a community can begin its work by coming together, but only faith in one another and in their cause can sustain it.

What is the Kwanzaa candle holder called?

Kinara is the name of the holder for the holiday's candles, and it carries a meaning of its own: the people's roots in Africa, the ancestors from whom celebrants descend.

In a Kwanzaa set, what are the Mishumaa Saba?

The candles: one more is lit each evening, and each stands for one of the principles, which the household talks over that night.

Which mix of colours makes up the set of Kwanzaa candles?

One black, three red, three green: the candles take the colours of the Pan-African flag, and one more is lit on each day of the holiday.

On the Kwanzaa candle holder, what does the black candle stand for?

Unity: the black candle stands for the first of the principles and, by its colour, for the people themselves, and it is always the first to be lit.

The mat on which the other Kwanzaa symbols are placed is called what?

Mkeka is the mat beneath everything else, and that is its meaning: it stands for tradition and history, the foundation on which the rest is built.

What does the Kwanzaa symbol "mazao" refer to?

Crops: the mazao, usually fruit, nuts and vegetables, stand for the rewards of shared work, as in the African harvest festivals behind the holiday.

The ears of corn in a Kwanzaa set, the muhindi, stand for whom?

The children: families set out one ear of corn for each child in the household, as a sign of the hope the community places in them.

In a Kwanzaa ceremony, the libation for the ancestors is poured from what?

The unity cup is used to pour a libation for the ancestors, and is then passed round so that everyone present can sip from it.

What does the Kwanzaa term "Zawadi" refer to?

Zawadi are the gifts, usually given to children on the last day of Kwanzaa, often handmade rather than store-bought to avoid commercialism.

The Karamu, Kwanzaa's communal meal, is formally known as the Feast of what?

Faith gives the Karamu its formal name, the Feast of Faith, and the evening is as much a programme as a meal, with a libation for the ancestors and cultural performances.

The Karamu, Kwanzaa's big communal feast, is usually held on which day?

New Year's Eve is the sixth night of Kwanzaa, and the Karamu turns it into a community party, with a shared meal, music and dancing.

What does the daily Kwanzaa greeting "Habari gani?" mean in English?

"Habari gani?" means "How are you?", or more literally "What is the news?"; during Kwanzaa the expected reply is the name of that day's principle.

The black, red and green flag associated with Kwanzaa is known by which Swahili name?

Bendera is simply Swahili for flag; Kwanzaa's version takes the red, black and green of the Pan-African flag and reorders them to put black first.

Which historical event's aftermath prompted the creation of Kwanzaa?

The Watts riots of August 1965 set Karenga looking for ways to rebuild and unite Black Los Angeles; he founded an organisation of his own and, a year after the riots, created Kwanzaa.

What name was Kwanzaa's creator given at birth in 1941?

Ronald McKinley Everett became Maulana Karenga in the 1960s; the organisation he went on to lead had its members learn Swahili too.

How does Karenga translate his adopted title "Maulana"?

"Master teacher" is how Karenga renders Maulana, a title that comes from the Arabic for "our lord" and is more often given to Muslim scholars.

Kwanzaa is one letter away from the kwanza, the currency of which African country?

Angola's currency is the kwanza, a name usually traced to the country's Kwanza River, though it may share the holiday's Swahili root.

In the Karamu programme, what is the "Tamshi la Tutaonana"?

Tamshi la Tutaonana is the farewell statement that closes the Karamu programme; "tutaonana" is Swahili for "we will see one another".

In 2018, which Canadian city proclaimed the country's first official Kwanzaa week?

Toronto and neighbouring Brampton issued Canada's first Kwanzaa week proclamations in December 2018, more than half a century after the holiday began in Los Angeles.

Which president issued the first presidential message marking Kwanzaa?

Bill Clinton issued the first presidential Kwanzaa message in December 1993, calling the holiday a way to rebuild communities; George W. Bush and Barack Obama kept up the custom.

Official Kwanzaa guidance says a child's gifts should always include which two items?

A book and a heritage symbol are both required: the book honours an African tradition of learning that Karenga traces back to ancient Egypt, the symbol a commitment to the past.

Karenga first presented Kwanzaa as an alternative to which holiday?

Christmas was the holiday Karenga first set Kwanzaa against, but as it spread he reversed course, saying it was never meant to replace anyone's religious holiday; many families now keep both.

Karenga's father was a minister in which Christian denomination?

Baptist: Karenga was a preacher's son, one of fourteen children raised on a farm, yet the holiday he went on to create is not a religious one.

Which African leader named his political philosophy "Ujamaa"?

Julius Nyerere made Ujamaa, Swahili for familyhood, his watchword after independence and later gathered farming families into communal villages in its name; Karenga borrowed the word for a Kwanzaa principle.

Which poet narrated the 2008 documentary about Kwanzaa, "The Black Candle"?

Maya Angelou narrated The Black Candle and can be heard in it reflecting on the principles themselves, as the film follows Kwanzaa from the Black Power era to the present.

On which network did the special "A Rugrats Kwanzaa" first air?

Nickelodeon aired A Rugrats Kwanzaa, in which a visiting great-aunt gets Susie Carmichael's family, who did not normally keep the holiday, to celebrate it.

Karenga's philosophy holds that the key challenge in Black life is the challenge of what?

Culture came first for Karenga: his group saw a cultural revival as the first step towards Black power, and he created Kwanzaa as part of that effort.

Which rapper voiced Kwanzaabot, the holiday robot in the animated series Futurama?

Coolio voiced Kwanzaabot, an ally of the show's Robot Santa, whose running joke is that centuries of handing out books explaining Kwanzaa have had little effect.

Karenga's second doctorate, in social ethics, came from which university?

The University of Southern California awarded it in the 1990s, when Karenga, already a professor, went back to study the ethics of ancient Egypt, nearly two decades after his first doctorate.

Kawaida, the philosophy behind Kwanzaa, blends nationalist, pan-Africanist and which other values?

Socialist values came from the African socialism of newly independent states, which shaped Karenga's thinking; they echo in the principle of cooperative economics.

The principle of Nia calls for restoring the people to their traditional what?

Greatness is the goal Karenga sets in Nia: the community is to be built up as a shared vocation so that its people regain the standing they once held.

What is "Siku ya Taamuli", observed on the final day of Kwanzaa?

The Day of Meditation is Kwanzaa's quiet close: celebrants take stock by asking who they are, and whether they are all they ought to be.

In the Kwanzaa libation ritual, what does the Swahili word "shukrani" mean?

Thanks is the meaning of shukrani, a Swahili word borrowed from the Arabic shukran; in the libation, celebrants give thanks to the ancestors before the cup is shared.

Which of these is a supplemental Kwanzaa symbol rather than one of the core seven?

A Nguzo Saba poster is one of two supplemental symbols, along with the black, red and green flag, yet Karenga's guidance says it should always be part of the display.

Which youth wing of Karenga's US Organization took a Swahili name meaning "Young Lions"?

Simba Wachanga, the Young Lions, was the youth wing of a group that taught its members Swahili; simba is the word for lion, as fans of The Lion King will know.

In which animated series does a character nicknamed the Brain celebrate Kwanzaa with his family?

Arthur's 2000 holiday special has the Brain tell his friends about Kwanzaa in his family's ice cream shop, where the holiday gets an ice cream special of its own.

Why did Karenga take Kwanzaa's vocabulary from Swahili?

It is tied to no single ethnic group: Karenga calls Swahili a Pan-African language, chosen to show commitment to the whole of Africa and its culture, not to one nation or people.

The name Swahili, the language of Kwanzaa's terms, comes from an Arabic word meaning what?

Coast: Swahili comes from the Arabic sawahil, 'coasts', because the language grew up in port towns where African and Arab traders met.

In the 2000s, the Spirit of Kwanzaa dance pageant played which Washington venue?

The Kennedy Center hosted the Dance Institute of Washington's Spirit of Kwanzaa, a pageant of dance, poetry and song that gave the school's young dancers a turn in its grand Concert Hall.

The University of Sankore Press, publisher of Karenga's Kwanzaa book, shares its name with a medieval centre of learning in which city?

Timbuktu's Sankore mosque was one of the city's three medieval centres of learning, where scholars taught their own circles of students; the Los Angeles press that prints Karenga's books carries its name.

In 'A Rugrats Kwanzaa', Susie's great-aunt recalls a roadside meeting with which civil rights leader?

Martin Luther King Jr. crossed paths with Aunt T. and her husband on their drive to the March on Washington, one of the scrapbook memories she shares with the babies during a power cut.

In the Karamu programme, what does "Kukaribisha" mean?

Welcoming is what Kukaribisha means, from karibu, the everyday Swahili word for 'welcome'; it names the opening stage of the Karamu programme.

What is the "Tamshi la Tambiko" in a Karamu celebration?

The libation statement, the Tamshi la Tambiko, is spoken as the libation, the tambiko, is poured for the ancestors.

Which Black Arts Movement poet adopted Karenga's Kawaida philosophy for his Newark organisation?

Amiri Baraka took the title Imamu, 'spiritual leader', and wrote Kawaida Studies in 1972, then dropped the title two years later when he turned from Black nationalism to Marxism.

What does the Swahili greeting "Heri za Kwanzaa" mean?

Happy Kwanzaa is the sense of 'Heri za Kwanzaa': heri means happiness or good fortune, and Swahili speakers use the same pattern to wish each other a happy new year.

In the phrase Nguzo Saba, what does the Swahili word "nguzo" literally mean?

Pillar is the literal sense of nguzo, a prop or supporting post, so each of the Nguzo Saba is at root a pillar meant to hold a community up, though the phrase is usually rendered as principles.

Which company began selling Kwanzaa cards in 1992?

Hallmark's move into Kwanzaa cards worried some celebrants: buying from Black-owned shops was meant to practise the holiday's cooperative economics, and big corporations were now taking the trade.

A year before its first Kwanzaa stamp, the US Postal Service issued its first stamp for which holiday?

Hanukkah's first US stamp was a joint issue with Israel showing a menorah; the Kwanzaa design came the following year and an Eid stamp a few years after that, as the holiday series widened.

Which star told Vanity Fair in 2008 that her family would celebrate Kwanzaa "for our girl"?

Angelina Jolie added that the family would keep moon and water festivals for her sons too, and visit temples in some countries and also go to church.

Which Public Enemy member appears in the Kwanzaa documentary The Black Candle?

Chuck D, Public Enemy's frontman, is one of the voices in The Black Candle, which follows Kwanzaa from its roots in the 1960s Black Power movement to the present day.

What does the Swahili rallying cry 'Harambee!' mean?

Pull together is the sense of Harambee, said to have begun as a work chant of porters heaving heavy loads in unison.

Karenga was born into a farming family on the Eastern Shore of which US state?

Maryland: Karenga was born in Parsonsburg, one of fourteen siblings raised on the family farm, and left for Los Angeles in the late 1950s.

Which FBI director ran the bureau when forged letters set Karenga's group against the Black Panthers?

J. Edgar Hoover led the FBI from 1924 until his death in 1972; under him agents mailed each group forged letters that seemed to come from the other, so each believed its rival was mocking it in public.

Which textbook did Karenga first publish in 1982 and revise through four editions?

Introduction to Black Studies appeared in 1982 and reached a fourth edition in 2010; Karenga wrote it after helping to found the discipline on American campuses in the late 1960s.

In what subject did Karenga earn his bachelor's and master's degrees?

Political science was his subject for both degrees, the master's with a focus on African studies; he also studied Swahili, the language he would draw on for Kwanzaa's vocabulary.

According to Karenga, what does his adopted surname mean?

Keeper of tradition is the meaning Karenga gives the name he adopted in the 1960s, when he was teaching Swahili in Los Angeles and turning to African culture.

Harambee, a Swahili rallying cry, is also the national motto of which country?

Kenya carries Harambee on its coat of arms; Jomo Kenyatta took up the word in 1963, as the country won independence, urging communities to raise money for their own local projects.

Which FBI programme sent forged letters to inflame the US-Black Panther rivalry?

The FBI's COINTELPRO sent forged letters and cartoons to US and the Panthers, each purporting to come from the other, to deepen the rivalry.

Karenga's 1994 second doctorate examined which ancient Egyptian moral ideal?

Karenga's 1994 dissertation, "Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics", later became a book of the same name.

Karenga wrote a mission statement for which 1995 event?

The Million Man March's mission statement was Karenga's work; he sat on its organising committee, and the day was paired with a Day of Absence for those who stayed home from work and school.

Karenga became chair of the Africana Studies Department at which school?

Cal State Long Beach made Karenga chair of Africana Studies, a second act for a man who left prison in 1975 to find the organisation he had founded already disbanded.

Facing the Kwanzaa candle holder, where are the three red candles placed?

On the left is where the three red candles go, with the three green on the right of the black one; Karenga's guidance fixes the layout, saying a holiday without set practices is no holiday.

Under official Kwanzaa guidance, in which direction are the candles lit after the black one?

From left to right is the order Karenga's guidance gives once the black candle is burning: one more candle each evening, so the whole row is alight only on the final night.

What do the red candles on the Kwanzaa candle holder symbolize?

The people's struggle is red's meaning in Kwanzaa's colours: Karenga put black for the people first and red next, because the struggle is waged by and for the people.

By what derogatory name did the Black Panthers refer to US Organization?

The Black Panthers mocked US as "United Slaves", a name the group never used but which is often mistaken for its official title.

Swahili, the source of Kwanzaa's vocabulary, is spoken mainly in which part of Africa?

East Africa is where Swahili took shape, and from there it spread as a shared second language deep into the centre of the continent.

A January 1969 gun battle between US and the Panthers took place on which campus?

The January 17, 1969, shootout at UCLA's Campbell Hall killed two Panther leaders after the groups backed rival candidates to head the new Afro-American Studies Center.

Which Soul Food actress voiced Susie's great-aunt in 'A Rugrats Kwanzaa'?

Irma P. Hall, Big Mama in Soul Food, voiced Aunt T., who visits for the holidays and steers Susie's family towards Kwanzaa.

In the sitcom episode 'Everybody Hates Kwanzaa', why does Chris's father decide the family will celebrate it?

To save money: in the 2007 Everybody Hates Chris episode, Julius, who counts the cost of everything, decides Kwanzaa will be cheaper than the family's usual December spending.

Which Disney animated series has a holiday episode called "Seven Days of Kwanzaa"?

The Proud Family's Kwanzaa episode has the Prouds meet a homeless family while holiday shopping, and it is the strangers who end up teaching them what the holiday means.

In Karenga's black, red and green Kwanzaa flag, what does green stand for?

The future is what green stands for in the Kwanzaa flag; its colours were adapted from the 1920 Pan-African flag, where green had stood for the natural fertility of Africa.

Which organisation formally adopted the red, black and green Pan-African flag in 1920?

The UNIA adopted the flag at its 1920 convention in New York, answering a popular 1900 song that had mocked Black Americans as the only race without a flag.

Which leader's movement adopted the red, black and green Pan-African flag in 1920?

Marcus Garvey had argued for years that Black people needed a flag of their own as proof of pride and political maturity, and his movement adopted one at its 1920 convention in New York.

The first Kwanzaa stamp's designer painted the original hardcover jacket of which Terry McMillan novel?

Waiting to Exhale wore her painting Ensemble because Terry McMillan had bought a print in a gallery and brought Synthia Saint James to her publisher; dozens more book covers followed.

Which TV chef's 'Kwanzaa Cake' did Anthony Bourdain call 'a war crime'?

Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade 'Kwanzaa Cake' was a shop-bought angel food cake spread with canned icing, filled with apple-pie filling and scattered with pumpkin seeds and corn nuts.

The kente-weaving town of Bonwire is in which country?

Bonwire, in Ghana's Ashanti Region, is the traditional centre of Asante kente weaving, the cloth named in Kwanzaa guidance as a decoration.

Swahili, the language of Kwanzaa's terminology, belongs to which language group?

Swahili is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family; its grammar and core vocabulary are Bantu despite heavy borrowing from Arabic and other languages.

Most native Swahili speakers live in Kenya and which other country?

Tanzania and Kenya hold most native Swahili speakers, yet far more people across the wider region speak it as a second language than grew up with it.

The 1965 Los Angeles riots began with the traffic stop of which motorist?

Marquette Frye, 21, was pulled over for drunk driving on August 11, 1965; a scuffle during his arrest drew a crowd and set off six days of unrest.

In Asante legend, the first kente weavers learned their craft by watching which creature at work?

A spider spinning its web is said to have taught two men from Bonwire how to weave; in the story, the Asante king then adopts their cloth as his own.

Modern standard Swahili is written in which script?

Latin letters arrived with European missionaries and colonial administrators and displaced the Arabic script in which the oldest surviving Swahili manuscripts are written.

Which United Nations agency proclaimed 7 July World Kiswahili Language Day?

UNESCO proclaimed the day in 2021, making Swahili the first African language the United Nations honours this way; 7 July recalls the day in 1954 when a party fighting colonial rule adopted it as a unifying language.

In the Pan-African flag displayed at Kwanzaa, what does the red stripe represent?

The blood shed for liberty is red's meaning, 'the blood which men must shed for their redemption and liberty'; black is for the people themselves.

Kente is usually traced to kenten, an Akan word for which everyday object?

Basket is what kenten means, and kente is most often traced to it because the cloth's interlaced blocks recall basketwork, though some dictionaries derive it simply from a Twi word for cloth.

The Zulu kingdom, whose harvest festival helped inspire Kwanzaa, was defeated in 1879 by which colonial power?

Britain invaded the Zulu kingdom in January 1879 and suffered a shock defeat at Isandlwana within days, yet by July its army had taken the royal capital at Ulundi.