Kwanzaa may be a newer holiday chronologically speaking, but people who celebrate it attempt to connect with older cultures and traditions. It has become more popular since the 1990s, and Americans have varying views on it.
As Christians, how should we respond and engage with Kwanzaa? And how can we love those who celebrate it?
What is the History and Development of Kwanzaa?
Kwanzaa emerged in 1966 during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Maulana Karenga—an African American professor, leader, and activist in the Black Power movement—created Kwanzaa im response to the racism and oppression facing Black Americans at that time. He attempted to foster a holiday to reconnect people with African roots, values, and culture to help increase community pride.
Dr. Karenga felt the mainstream holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving were too materialistic and European. Through American slavery over centuries, people brought over from Africa forcibly lost their identities, history, and culture. African slaves were given new names, often the names of their slave owners, and the upheaval stole tribal and cultural African roots. Karenga sought to address this.
The name “Kwanzaa” comes from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which means “first fruits,” pointing to traditional African harvest celebrations. Dr. Karenga chose Swahili since it’s widely spoken throughout Africa and thought it might best unify across African peoples. Through establishing Kwanzaa, he wanted to build a shared cultural experience to strengthen and unify the African American community. The holiday gives African Americans a way to learn more about African customs and values.
Kwanzaa is celebrated over seven days, December 26 to January 1, and teaches seven principles known as the Nguzo Saba. The principles are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Umija (Collective Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). These principles promote the values of building community and encouraging social responsibility.
Kwanzaa has evolved over time, and while some African American families observe it separately from Christmas, others celebrate it alongside other faith holidays.
What is the Meaning Behind Kwanzaa?
Kwanzaa celebrates and highlights seven core principles. Each day of Kwanzaa focuses on one of these principles, encouraging conversation among the family and purposeful action to reinfore the ideas.
The first principle, Umoja (Unity), focuses on the importance of togetherness within the family and wider African community. During slavery and segregation, African American families were torn from each other and purposefully divided. Umoja draws people to a sense of solidarity and a return to a common identity, recognizing how the strength of a community relies on mutual support and understanding.
The second principle, Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), encourages people to define and name themselves, create and speak for themselves. Much of slavery’s history taught African Americans they had no choices or to be bound to what the white society wanted them to say or do. Kujichagulia speaks to the importance of asserting individuality and freedom, empowering people to choose for themselves with purpose.
The third principle, Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), calls for the African American community to cooperate and solve problems together. Along with unity, Ujima teaches a shared responsibility to think beyond the individual to the wider community, seeing how individual success happens within the well-being of the community.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) is the fourth principle and highlights the importance of building and maintaining African American businesses. Slaves didn’t have ownership; they were owned, enriching others who owned businesses. African American social and political freedom also requires economic power, creating stability and the ability to pass on wealth to future generations.
The fifth principle, Nia (Purpose), inspires people to work towards good goals that benefit others. Related to Ujima, Nia gives a sense of meaning and mission to life, to have a sense of direction and leaving a legacy.
Kuumba (Creativity) is the sixth principle, and it celebrates the creativity within the African American community. This includes the arts but also innovation in different careers. Black history includes inventors, scientists, styles of music, and writers. These and more become part of a unique African American culture, and Kuumba seeks to give the community a sense of pride and inspire further self-expression.
The last principle, Imani (Faith), reflects a belief in African American people, their culture and history. Not necessarily a religious designation, Imani encourages faith in oneself, the community, and the continuing struggle for justice, knowing the purpose has worth.
How is Kwanza Celebrated Today?
Serving as a central part of Kwanzaa is the kinara, a seven-branched candleholder for the principles of the holiday. Each night, the family lights one candle, beginning with the black candle in the middle, representing the African people. Throughout the week, they alternate lighting three red candles (which represent the struggles) and three green candles (for hope and the future). The nightly ritual includes discussions and reflections on the daily principle.
People often decorate their homes with African cultural items, like African art or textiles. Certain fruits symbolize harvest and abundance. Some participants might display the bendera, the Pan-African flag, with red, black, and green colors also signifying the struggles, unity, and hope of African peoples around the world. Many families set a table with a mkeka, a woven mat on which they place items symbolizing heritage and community.
During Kwanzaa, families and communities gather for feasts called karamu on December 31. The karamu serves traditional African dishes, and families and friends share food, stories, and music. People may dress in traditional African clothes to add some pride and celebration. The feast might have drumming, dancing, and poetry readings.
Gift-giving happens during Kwanzaa, too, although usually more intentional and less commercial than other holidays. Families exchange handmade or culturally significant gifts like books or cultural items to reinforce the holiday and pass down traditions to the next generation.
Kwanzaa started as an African American holiday, but today, it’s grown beyond America. People around the world celebrate it to honor African heritage and emphasize important values and principles.
What Biblical Doctrines and Themes Connect with Kwanzaa?
The Bible calls for unity, although not within one race or people group but within the body of Christ. Paul urges the church to remain united. “There is one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). The New Testament idea of unity goes deeper and transcends worldly ties. Christians are citizens of heaven, a reborn people, which can unify all cultures and races in the Spirit. The Gospel unity doesn’t diminish or dismiss cultural identities but redeems all in submission to Christ and the Kingdom, a true unity and diversity.
Kujichagulia teaches self-determination and responsibility, rejecting the oppression of bad systems meant to steal identity and value. The Bible teaches that each person is created in God’s image (Genesis), an intrinsic equality. God inspires believers to live according to his purposes and identity, resisting the ways of the world. Paul states, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Similar to Kujichagulia, Christians shouldn’t define ourselves by society’s standards but through God’s word and identity in Christ.
Ujima connects with the biblical theme of mutual support in the Christian community. Galatians 6:2 commands, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Ujima’s call to support and uplift others bears a similarity to how the Bible calls Christians to service and compassion in the church and the wider community.
The Scripture sees our resources as a primary way to express the generosity of God’s Kingdom, and this aligns to some degree with Ujamaa. Acts 2:44-45 shows the early church’s commitment to sharing resources to meet needs. “And all who believed were together and had all things in common.” Kwanzaa focuses more on supporting Black-owned businesses and building economic strength.
The Bible talks a great deal about purpose, one of the two human needs (intimacy and purpose). Kwanzaa’s Nia reflects the Christian theme of living with a divine purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us how God has a plan for our lives. “For I know the plans I have for you … plans for good and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Kwanzaa encourages people to seek a purpose that benefits the broader community, echoing the biblical calling to seek first the Kingdom and see God’s blessings and provision.
Should Christians Celebrate Kwanzaa?
In some ways, these shared principles can create a bridge between Christianity and Kwanzaa. We must use discernment, however, as we do with all traditions and celebrations.
First, we should never disparage a culture. God created and loves all nations and cultures. His promise to Abraham included a goal—to bless all nations, ultimately through Christ. The apostle Paul became all things to all people to save some. However, he didn’t change the Gospel or the truth of the Scripture, either. Christians should affirm and celebrate all cultures in love. At the same time, disciples of Jesus belong to a larger family, the Kingdom of God, and affirming a culture should never come at the expense of seeking first God’s ways.
With the African American culture, specifically, much has been done over the centuries (since the 1600s) to demonize the African continent and their cultures. Histories of great African kingdoms have been forgotten or minimized, and a whole set of beliefs developed that said that a race of people was subhuman because of the color of their skin. We should be extra careful not to dismiss a celebration seeking to rediscover a cultural identity which has been so persecuted. There is much to celebrate within African cultures, which are diverse across a huge continent, just as is true with any culture.
To be clear, many might associate the Bible with white or Western culture, but an oppressed people of color (Middle Eastern) wrote much of the Old Testament and all the New Testament. Christianity has expressions in North Africa and around the world. Combining Kwanzaa and Christianity doesn’t discount African culture or the Civil Rights Movement, which was also incredibly influenced by Christian leaders in the 1960s.
With the right priorities--the Kingdom and the church--Christians can celebrate Kwanzaa. For Christians, any philosophy or principle must be filtered through the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. The principles of unity, community support, purpose, creativity, and faith all resonate with Scripture. We can participate in Kwanzaa, affirming a culture, and use the Bible to teach the principles.
Celebrating Kwanza can be a meaningful way for African American Christians to honor their heritage, even rediscovering it, while expressing gratitude for God’s faithfulness. The Bible teaches the importance of remembering history and God’s work throughout generations—one of the reasons we have the Scripture. Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide them from their children but tell to the coming generations the glorious deeds of the Lord.”
On the other hand, Christians can learn about a culture but realize we can’t celebrate all aspects. African cultures sometimes include pagan and animist ideas and beliefs, so we should be careful not to elevate these things which are clearly unbiblical. In addition, we should affirm all cultures, which means not teaching any race or nation has supremacy over others. We should resist any ideas that express African culture as better than others or more godly in any way, just as we should for Western or any other culture.
Ultimately, for Christians, choosing whether or not to celebrate Kwanzaa is a personal conviction. Either way, let’s choose love and dignifying all cultures while living and speaking the Gospel.
Peace.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Sam Edwards
