At the core of Kwanzaa's rituals and meaning are the Nguzo Saga, the Seven Principles, which are offered as a foundation necessary for a self-affirming, self-determining, humanistic, and Afrocentric family, community and culture:

Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and 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 brother's and sister's 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 heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Maulana Karenga

This page is part of the "AFRICA: One Continent. Many Worlds." web site. All photographic images and text contained within these web pages ARE COPYRIGHTED and may not be commerically reproduced, or utilized in any manner, without the prior written consent of the owner. Permission to reproduce this page must be obtained from the University of Sankore Press, Los Angeles.

This article is adapted from Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture by Dr. Maulana Karenga (University of Sankore Press, Los Angeles, 2nd edition, 1977). Used with permission.

Reprinted from Terra, September/October 1997, pp. 6-9.

jca