Happy Kwanzaa Creativity/Kuumba: Working diligently to continuously enhance our families, neighborhoods and people Kuumba Message The Kuumba principle is teaches that both children and adults should strive for continuous improvement. This principle is central and essential to the restoration of academic excellence for African American youth. Rediscovering an achievement ethic in education and professional...
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Happy Kwanzaa Purpose/Nia: Fulfilling our duty and obligation to contribute to the high and morally serious purpose of nation-building, i.e. , the quest to recover and restore our people to their traditional greatness Nia Message Charles Hamilton, the intellectual giant who built from scratch the intellectual and framework and the legal strategy and infrastructure...
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Happy Kwanzaa Cooperative Economics/Ujamaa: Sharing and pooling our financial resources and goods and services for the common benefit of family and community participants with the goal of building and sustaining cooperative economic enterprises Ujamaa/Cooperative Economics Message The practice of mutual aid, Cooperative Economics, by traditional Africans gave recognition and worth to members of the...
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Happy Kwanzaa Collective Work and Responsibility/Ujima: Investing collectively in our family’s and community’s well-being, and working in mutual beneficial way to create the best conditions and possibilities of life for everyone Ujima/Collective Work & Responsibility Message Collective work and responsibility is a powerful force in the construction of family and community, and in healthy...
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Happy Kwanzaa Self-Determination/Kujichagulia Defining and shaping our own interests, priorities, and image, and grounding our thoughts, practices, rituals, and celebrations in our own history and culture Kujichgulia/Self-Determination Message The practice of kujichagulia/Self-determination affirms the right and responsibility of African Americans to think, to speak, and to act from their own cultural framework. By doing...
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Happy Kwanzaa Unity/Umoja Building and fostering harmonious, positive, and warm, relationships and attachments in the family, school, neighborhood, and large national community Unity Day Message On this the first day of Kwanzaa, we come together to celebrate the joy of living together as family. The focus of this first day of Kwanzaa is the...
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Inasmuch as Kwanzaa is a holiday which stresses and reinforces family bonding and attachment as well as child and adult development, we thought it prudent and instructive to discuss ways to make the Kwanzaa celebration for children rewarding and memorable. First, children of all ages should help to set-up the Kwanzaa Set. This is...
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Kwanzaa was created to introduce and reinforce seven guiding principles for building and restoring healthy and nurturing families and strong and supportive communities. As values which guide our thought and practice, it is paramount that we practice these principles daily. At the end of the year, December – January 1, we take assessment of...
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As has been said elsewhere, daily practice of the Seven Principles was one of the primary reasons for the creation of Kwanzaa. Thus, this is the week to review and to set in motion a plan for monitoring weekly the practice of these guiding seven principles. That said, the first step is to review...
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A Celebration of Family, Community and the Common Good Faith/Imani To believe and trust in ourselves, our parents, our teachers, and our leaders, and our ability to overcome adversity while making progress as a people Perspective on Faith The Kwanzaa principle “Faith” is the bedrock or foundational principle. Faith is what sustains us in...
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