Kwanzaa Jubilee - Kwanzaa.org

The primary focus of the Kwanzaa Jubilee is -

Merge modern technology with Kwanzaa in a way that hasn't been done before...
Expand understanding of the Kwanzaa creation story...
Clarify controversies mistakenly linked to Kwanzaa...

Frequently Asked Questions

1What does a Kwanzaa Jubilee mean?

The word “jubilee” has been used repeatedly in the context of African American history to celebrate significant anniversaries and occasions that always look forward to better things to come.

For us at the Afrikan Restoration Project, our call for a 60th Anniversary Kwanzaa Jubilee is not only about recognizing and celebrating Kwanzaa’s existence for six decades. For us, this Kwanzaa Jubilee is more about a renewal and recommitment to Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba / Seven Principles.

Our quest is to increase understanding of what Kwanzaa is all about in the Black community, leading to an increased embrace of the Seven Principles and a commitment to be aligned with and apply them every day of the year.

We believe that if we do that, every single problem in the Black community will be resolved, allowing us to make an increasingly meaningful contribution to the forward flow of human history, as the best of our ancestor’s teachings require of us.

2 How will the Kwanzaa Jubilee merge with technology in a way that hasn't been done before?

The leaders of the Afrikan Restoration Project have over forty years combined experience in mechanical and electromechanical engineering, programming for website, app, and video game development, 3D animated graphics, and manufacturing.

Starting with Black History Month 2024, we will reintroduce a line of custom designed Kwanzaa themed products that we manufacture ourselves. We will also introduce a new Kwanzaa themed app to help promote the daily practice and embrace of the Nguzo Saba.

We will also offer a training course on 3D printing and other areas of applied technology based on interest.

Later next year or in 2025 we will also introduce our first Kwanzaa themed video game

3How will a Kwanzaa Jubilee expand understanding of the Kwanzaa creation story?

Our Kwanzaa Jubilee will expand understanding of the Kwanzaa creation story by considering the people who assisted Dr. Karenga in conducting research on African harvest celebrations that informed the creation of Kwanzaa.

This effort will initially focus on the nine-year-old girl named Terry (Baraka) Damu (now a respected elder) who inspired the research group which led to Kwanzaa’s creation, and Mother-Sister Kicheko Davis, a former Us Organization member who shared her memory of her role in the Kwanzaa research effort in an online interview.

4How will a Kwanzaa Jubilee clarify controversies mistakenly linked to Kwanzaa?

Our Kwanzaa Jubilee will clarify controversies mistakenly linked to Kwanzaa by directly addressing them.

The first point of clarity is to distinguish these matters from the meaning and purpose of Kwanzaa. The next point is to respond with the most qualified sources to address related concerns.

The third point of clarity will be to discuss how we overcame lingering issues from the ‘60’s and ‘70’s that are linked to Kwanzaa by first considering their origin during a time of war against and within our community. We will share how we looked within ourselves to find a way to stop allowing outside influence to keep us separated from our best traditions and some of our ancestor’s best teachings, as represented in Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba / Seven Principles.

5Why should people support this idea of a Kwanzaa Jubilee?

Black people should support this idea of a Kwanzaa Jubilee because its sole purpose is to help elevate our people’s self-perception so we will not only more fully realize that we deserve better than what this society has prepared for us, but to also remind us that we are responsible for elevating our reality and for inspiring others to do the same.

That’s because we understand the record shows that when Black people are at our best, the world follows us.

In other words, the people we have been hoping and praying for to change the world for the better can be found waiting for us in the mirror.

This Kwanzaa Jubilee is designed to inspire a deep and meaningful reconnection with Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba / Seven Principles to serve as a roadmap and a code of conduct for our daily activities to guide us to the best possible outcomes.

Kwanzaa Jubilee Blog Posts

An Ujima Quest for a Kwanzaa Jubilee:

Using Tradition and Reason to Expand Our Understanding for Better Outcomes

Whenever the word ‘jubilee’ is mentioned among Black people, a sacred event is soon coming. A big anniversary celebration, or a new phase of existence for us – or an honored tradition – is drawing near, and always with the hope and promise of better things to come.

Every jubilee begins as a creative act of unity, purpose, and faith that becomes collective work and cooperative economics for people in route to self-determination. All Seven Principles apply on these occasions where we not only celebrate ourselves, but also renew our understanding of – and commitment to – those things that make us better people.

An Ujima Quest for a Kwanzaa Jubilee in Practice:

Expanding Our Understanding of How Kwanzaa Was Created

To truly understand where this quest for a Kwanzaa Jubilee is going, we must understand where Kwanzaa began. There is virtually no difference in stories told about how the holiday was created by the people involved. They agree that in late 1965 or early 1966, Terry (Baraka) Damu, the nine-year old daughter of an Us Organization member made a frustrated observation that Black people did not have our own holiday. According to their stories, Terry insisted that since everybody else had a holiday, Black people should have a holiday, too.

Soon after, Dr. Maulana Karenga organized a monthslong research effort where Kwanzaa was conceived and defined, leading to its first celebration in December 1966 at an apartment home in Los Angeles.