When your family or community celebrates Kwanzaa, you honor the Pan-African roots of the holiday. Kwanzaa has been celebrated since the 1960s and can be celebrated as an ethnic holiday by African-Americans of different faith traditions honoring their African ancestry. The week long celebration from December 26th – January 1st occurs simultaneous to the “Season of Christmas” which is observed in the Catholic traditions of Christianity without impinging on it.
In a manner similar to the Jewish Holiday Celebration of Passover with the special Seder meal, non-African-Americans can attend the celebrations and participate as it is fundamentally a celebration shared around the dinner table with family, extended family (very much an African-American cultural hallmark and tradition beyond the scope of this post to explain), and community. The Seder meal is bonding and cultural sharing time grounded in the ethnic and religion of Jews.
In Kwanzaa, there are roles for the women, for the men, and for the children, honoring and embracing the family and community in the celebration. Often there are the ceremonial wearing of robes, wearing of the African Kente cloth, and the donning of African garments. Like the Seder meal, there can be sharings of history through the oral tradition of myth and story telling. And often it is the women embracing their matriarch Queen roles who do the lighting of the candles and preparing the home for the occasion.
The 7 Kwanzaa Principles are celebrated with each day having its own focus:
- Unity
- Self-determination
- Collective Responsibility and Work
- Cooperative Economics
- Purpose
- Creativity
- Faith
Certainly this is a marvelous time to bring singles, couples, and families together, honoring the Africanism within being an African-American. If you have the opportunity to attend home celebrations or the larger celebrations within the community by city hall or in your local community center, by all means do. You will be honoring the rich cultural heritage from Africa… and you never know who you might meet…
Happy Dating and Relationships,
Las Vegas Baby Boomer Dating Expert
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
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