kwanzaa
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Kwanzaa 101 for the Uninitiated, Self-Conscious, or Confused
Y’all, Kwanzaa is LIT. Seriously. What other uniquely African-American holiday invites you to spend seven days talking about the realest shit? People get so caught up in how it’s a made-up holiday, but come on—a holiday is a group decision. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a federal holiday is younger than Kwanzaa. I’m not…
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Stacey Abrams Exemplifies the Kwanzaa Principle of Imani—Consciously Moving Forward Against Forces Seen and Unseen
The last day of Kwanzaa is represented by the principle of Imani, or faith—the essence of what has gotten us through when there seemed no way out. Black people, in general, are a spiritual people. But we are also a people of faith, which is not necessarily attached to formal religion. In the words of…
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Kuumba & Chill: Netflix’s Doyenne Jasmyn Lawson Is Out Here Doing It for the Culture
As we continue on our Kwanzaa trek this year, today we celebrate Kuumba, or creativity, a place where—let’s be frank—black folks excel. From Black Twitter to music of practically every genre; from comedy to cooking; from politics to fashion, we are nothing if not creative. Kuumba is defined as: “To do always as much as…
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Dispatches From The Kwanzaa Kid: How the Grinch Stole Ujamaa
Here’s a lie you often hear: “I grew up in the hood. And because I was smart, all the cool kids and the gangstas bullied me and beat me up.” If you talk to anyone who ever knew me, none of them would describe me as cool. Even though I was the least intimidating person…
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Kwanzaa Shout: Richelieu Dennis, the ‘Essence’ of Cooperative Economics
Today—Dec. 29—the Kwanzaa principle celebrated is Ujamaa, or “cooperative economics,” and there was very little debate as to who personified the “essence” of this concept, simply defined as such: To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together. Richelieu Dennis, founder of the and CEO of Sundial…
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The Women of GirlTrek, in Their Literal Movement for Black Women, Radiate Collective Work and Responsibility
The Kwanzaa principle for today, Dec. 28, is Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility. Ujima means building and maintaining our community together and making our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems while solving them together. Vanessa Garrison and Morgan Dixon, the founders of GirlTrek, embody the principles of collective work and responsibility. Their eight-year-old outfit organizes black…
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Habari Gani?! Kujichagulia! Marshawn ‘Spark the Blunt’ Lynch Goes Beast Mode for Self-Determination
For each day of Kwanzaa, the African-American cultural holiday that eschews the typical commercialism of the holiday season, we will be highlighting a person or persons from the past year who exemplifies the principle of the day. Kwanzaa was created in 1966 to uplift a sense of community through the principles of unity, self-determination, collective…
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About That Kwanzaa Life: The Ladies of KFC Were the Embodiment of Umoja in 2018
As with last year, The Root is celebrating the blackest holiday of them all! For each day of Kwanzaa, we will be highlighting a person(s) from the past year who exemplifies the principle of the day. Kwanzaa remains an African-American cultural holiday that eschews the typical commercialism of the holiday season, and uplifts a sense…
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12 Days of Gifting, Day 2: Home(bodies) for the Holidays
It’s Day Two of The Glow Up’s 12 Days of Gifting—and, as promised, we’re back with more ideas for you! I don’t know about you, but my ideal winter vacation is actually a staycation. While the weather outside is frightful (I live in Chicago, so that’s a very real possibility this time of year), I…