Observed December 26th to January 1st

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Kwanzaa is a very new observance, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana (Ron) Karenga who was a Professor at California State Univerisity in Long Beach, California. Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st. Beginning rather slowly the holiday of Kwanzaa has come to be celebrated by millions of Blacks around the world. Kwanzaa is a holiday to celebrate African heritage and to reflect on ones part in America today. Kwanzaa is a Swahili word meaning "first fruits of the harvest (Matunda ya Kwanza)."

Dr. Karenga's intent was to give Blacks an alternative to the practices of the dominant American Society. The suggested holiday struck a cord within the Black Nationalist movement of the 1960s. The holiday allows a celebration of African cultural and historical heritage, combining a study of African traditions with common humanist principles.

The Primary prescribed ritual is the Mishumaa Saba, a placment of a seven candle Kinara (candleholder) that is set upon the Mikeka which is a mat made of straw or other weavable plants. The placement of the candles are one black candle in the middle with three candles in line on both sides; the three candles on the left are red and the right are green. The Kwanzaa colors, black, red, and green have specified meanings; black is for the 'faces of the African people' with the red for the blood shed over the years and then green for the hope of the African motherland.

The seven candles represent the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa.
1.  Unity (Umoja): Striving for unity in family, community, nation, and race.
2.  Self-Determination (Kujichagulia): defining oneself, naming oneself, doing and speaking for oneself.
3.  Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima): Building and maintaining community and make the problems of our brothers and sisters, our problems solving them together.
4.  Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa): Open and operate black stores, shops and businesses, profiting from them together.
5.  Purpose (Nia): The collective vocation of restoring and developing traditional greatness to the Black community.
6.  Creativity (Kuumba): Do what we can, in the way we can to leave the community more beautiful and beneficial than when inherited.
7.  Faith (Imani): Belief in the righteous victory of the Black struggle with faith in our hearts in our people, parents, teachers and leaders.

In the early years Karenga said Kwanzaa was intended to be an alternative to Christmas and that Christianity was a white religion that should be shunned by Blacks. Karenga later altered his stand saying, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holidays. Today although declining in popularity Kwanzaa has come to be celebrated along with Christmas and New Years Days.