KWANZAA - 2014 -- 7 Days of African American Culture in a festival theme

December 26, 2014 - January 1, 2014

Kwanzaa Founder

City Center Milwaukee |  DAY 116 | Today is the first day of Kwanzaa 2014 - An annual celebration of African American culture in a festival of 7 days - December 26, 2014 - January 1, 2015.  The originator of Kwanzaa is Dr. Maulana Karenga.

Kwanzaa symbols include a decorative mat (Mkeka) on which other symbols are placed, corn (Muhindi) and other crops, a candle holder kinara with seven candles (Mishumaa Saba), a communal cup for pouring libation (Kikimbe cha Umoja), gifts (Zawadi), a poster of the seven principles, and a black, red, and green flag.

=========

Umoja is the Swahili word for "unity".

The seven (7) principles are:

• Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
• Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
• Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
• Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
• Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.  Wikipedia

=======

Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC