In my previous blog I discussed the holiday of Kwanzaa. We are now just a week away from the start of the seven-day festival, which focuses on heritage, family and community. Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday, not a religious one and is meant to serve as an inspiration to African-American families and the community. And while the celebration begins on December 26th and ends January 1st, neither the observance nor the decorations should be combined with Christmas, Hanukkah or the New Year.
People celebrating Kwanzaa deck their homes in black, red and green. That color scheme is carried throughout the house and can been seen in the candles that celebrants light each night and in the rooms’ other decorations. The main celebration centers around a table, which is placed at the heart of the home and is decorated in the colors I mentioned earlier. In addition to the color scheme, celebrants decorate the table with the symbols of Kwanzaa, including traditional textiles like mud cloth and kente cloth, African baskets, sculptures, harvest symbols and paintings or photographs.
According to the International Kwanzaa Exchange, celebrants create a central place in the home (like the aforementioned table) and set up the symbols of Kwanzaa, which are “a celebration of the past and a guide to the future.” In addition, according to Kwanzaa tradition, only the best and most beautiful items – though not necessarily the most expensive – should be used to celebrate the holiday. That means celebrants select only the finest objects of art, the most colorful kente cloth and the freshest fruits and vegetables so that every object used represents the best of the African culture.
Items you will typically find on a Kwanzaa table include the kinara, the kikombe cha Umoja (a libation cup used in a toast to ancestors) and the mkeka (a place mat). The Kwanzaa table is also a place to display a variety of fruits, and an ear of corn, muhindi, for each child in the home. Even if you don’t have children you are required to recognize the importance of societal parenthood by placing at least one ear of corn in a simple straw basket or bowl, symbolizing the African saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
We discussed the role of the kinara in my previous blog. The candelabra can be bought, but you can also easily make your own, from something as simple as a piece of driftwood. Simply paint it in traditional colors, drill holes in it, and tuck in some candleholders. Finally, add, mishumaa saba, the seven candles – one black, three green and three red. What do the colors represent? The black symbolizes the color of the face of Africans; red is for the blood the people have shed; and green stands for hope for the future.
Happy Kwanzaa!
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