kwanzaa week
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Why Kwanzaa Is Lit Like 7 Red, Black and Green Candles
Each year, there are new essays or snide conversations about how black people don’t celebrate Kwanzaa. But I’m here to tell you that some of us do. Some of us have been doing it for decades. Yeah, I’m that unicorn. My mother is from Cincinnati and she grew up with Christmas, but when she had…
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The 2017 Kwanzaa Week Gift Guide
… On the fifth day of Kwanzaa, P-Nut gave to meeeee: Fiiive keeeente clooooths! Four calling cards, three French braids, 20-inch dubs and an African print dashikiiii! Pardon me, I was just practicing my Kwanzaa carols. But this does raise an important question about Kwanzaa. In our quest to #MakeKwanzaaGreatAgain, have we overlooked an important…
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Habari Gani?! Ujima! Patrisse Khan-Cullors Reflected Collective Work and Responsibility in 2017
This year, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root is highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the third day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 28, the principle is Ujima, or “collective work and responsibility.” To practice Ujima is to build and maintain our community together, and to make our…
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Habari Gani?! Kujichagulia! Cardi B Was the Embodiment of Self-Determination in 2017
This year, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root is highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the second day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 27, the principle is Kujichagulia, or “self-determination.” To practice Kujichagulia is to define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.…
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Watch: What Do You Know About Kwanzaa?
This article originally ran on Dec. 27, 2017. When The Root video producer P.J. Rickards and I stepped onto the streets of Harlem (full disclosure: my beloved hood), we were both surprised at the dearth of information about Kwanzaa, the African-American cultural holiday started more than 50 years ago. Honestly, I think Kwanzaa was more…
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Habari Gani?! Umoja! Tarana Burke Was the Embodiment of Unity in 2017
This year, The Root is making the blackest holiday of them all great again! And for each day of Kwanzaa, we will be highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the first day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 26, the principle is Umoja, or “unity.” To practice Umoja is to…
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Welcome to Kwanzaa Week at The Root!
Yes, we’re serious. When I was asked (or, um, “volunteered”) to edit our Kwanzaa Week series, I was hype! Last year, I decided to try to celebrate the holiday for the first time in a long time. This was pre-Donald Trump, and my family and I admittedly bumbled through it, but now more than ever, this…
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#MakeKwanzaaGreatAgain, Explained
Sure. This will be one of our shortest explainers ever. The Root has started a grassroots campaign to place Kwanzaa at the top of the list of the most important black cultural traditions. Essentially—I know it’s hard to tell our intentions from the hashtag—we want to make Kwanzaa great again. No need to be embarrassed.…