The History and Origins of Kwanzaa: Uncovering Its Roots and Branches
February 11, 2024
When the question is asked – “What is Kwanzaa?” – an informed response begins with a discussion about how the Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles) relate to the weeklong celebration as a values system intended for Black people to use every day of the year. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles, where we are encouraged to reflect on its meaning, our application of its teachings during the past year, and our plans to apply and build on each principle’s teachings in the year to come.
The Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles) are based on a set of universal principles that people of all cultures must adhere to in order to develop, function, and advance as a society. As organized and arranged for Kwanzaa, these values reflect a focus on communitarian ideals, the ethics of sharing, Ubuntu – I am because we are, and such, representing the best of African thought and practice.
The Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles) are –
- Umoja (Unity)
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
- Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility)
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
- Nia (Purpose)
- Kuumba (Creativity)
- Imani (Faith)
The Seven Principles were introduced in 1965, more than a year before Kwanzaa was introduced in late 1966 as a way to link the Nguzo Saba with a lasting cultural tradition. Both the Nguzo Saba and Kwanzaa emerged from an African cultural and social change philosophy called Kawaida, conceived and created by Dr. Maulana Karenga during his graduate and post-graduate study years.
Dr. Karenga explains the relationship between Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba, and Kawaida philosophy on page 161 of his text, Introduction to Black Studies. He also explains the focus on communitarian values and the related benefits, stating that –
“Although the Nguzo Saba are most widely known as the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, they are in a larger sense the Seven Principles of Kawaida philosophy, the cultural and social change philosophy out of which Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba were created. The Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) were put forth as a communitarian African value system necessary to build community and serve as social glue and a moral orientation for cultural practice.”
On pages 35-36 in his official text on the Kwanzaa holiday, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, Dr. Karenga further explains the tradition and reason informing Kwanzaa’s values focus and the intended benefits, saying –
“Kwanzaa’s reason for existence, its length of seven days, its core focus, and its foundation are all rooted in its concern with values. Kwanzaa inherits this value concern and focus from Kawaida, the African philosophical framework from which it was created… It is a fundamental Kawaida contention that values are the hinge on which human possibilities turn. That is to say, as categories of commitment and priorities, values produce and sustain thought and practice which either diminish or enhance human possibilities. In other words, what you define as important and put first in your life determines your human possibilities… Moreover, Kawaida teaches that values are also important because they are a core component of culture and interact with practice in creating and sustaining the fabric and forward or backward motion of culture.”
This explains how the Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles) relates to Kwanzaa and why a focus on communal values was chosen as the basis for the holiday, its ongoing celebration of family, community, and culture, and its highest aspiration to inspire us to become an increasingly better version of what it means to be African and human in the world.
