2023 Kwanzaa message from its founder Dr. Maulana Karenga

Here is this years annual Kwanzaa message from its founder Dr. Maulana Karenga. This year his message is focused on Freedom, Justice and Peace: Principles and Practices For A New World.

Again, this year we wish for Africans everywhere throughout the world African community “Heri za Kwanzaa. Happy Kwanzaa.” And we bring and send greetings of celebration, solidarity and continued struggle for an inclusive and shared good in the world.

Also, in the still-held-high tradition of our ancestors, we wish for African peoples and all the peoples of the world all the good that heaven grants, the earth produces, and the waters bring forth from their depths. Hotep. Ase. Heri.

Moreover, among all the goods that are granted, given, and gained through ceaseless striving and righteous and relentless struggle, we wish, especially for our people and all other oppressed and struggling peoples of the world, the shared and indivisible goods of freedom, justice, and peace, deservedly achieved and enjoyed and passed on to future generations.

Indeed, we live in turbulent times of continuing unfreedom and oppression, the enduring evil of injustice and destructive conflicts, and unjust and genocidal war. And freedom, justice, and peace in the world and for the good of the world and all in it are urgent, essential, and indispensable.

Thus, we are morally called, commanded, and compelled to bear witness to truth and set the scales of justice in their proper place, especially among the voiceless and devalued, the downtrodden and defenseless, the oppressed, and the different and vulnerable. And we must do this not only through speech, but also in the way we live our lives, do our work, and wage our struggles for shared good in the world.

Kwanzaa was conceived and born in the womb, work, and transformative struggles of the Black Freedom Movement. And thus, its essential message and meaning was shaped and shared not only in sankofa initiatives of cultural retrieval, of the best of our views, values, and practices as African peoples.

It was also shaped by that defining decade of fierce strivings and struggles for freedom, justice and associated goods waged by Africans and other peoples of color all over the world in the 1960s. Kwanzaa thus came into being, grounded itself and grew as an act of freedom, an instrument of freedom, a celebration of freedom and a practice of freedom.

It was an act of self-determination and self-authorization; a means of cultivating and expanding consciousness and commitment; a righteous reveling in our recaptured sense of the sacredness, soulfulness, and beauty of our Black selves; and the practice of principles that engenders and sustains liberated and liberating ways to understand and assert ourselves in the world.

And at the heart of this liberated and liberating practice are the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa and of Kawaida philosophy out of which I created both Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba. Kawaida defines itself as and strives mightily to bring forth the “the best of African sensibilities, thought and practice in constant exchange with the world” and thus is developed and directed in the interest of African and human good and the well-being of the world.

If we are to achieve these vital goods and the new world that their securing will require and reflect, then, we must have principles and practices that ground and direct us toward this noble and needed goal. And the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, offer us these principles and practices. Umoja (Unity) calls on us to work and struggle for principled, purposeful and practiced togetherness in freedom, justice and peace in our families, communities and the world. It stresses the ties that link us and cultivate in us sensitivity to each other, other humans and the world and all in it.

Indeed, it is expressed in the teaching of Nana Dr. Anna Julia Cooper who affirmed this ancient and African value. She says, “we take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life and the unnaturalness and injustice of all favoritism whether of sex, race, condition or country.”

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) reaffirms the fundamental principle and practice of the right of every people to determine their own destiny and daily lives, to live free in their own place, space and time. And it reaffirms the right to resist all forms of unfreedom, injustice and oppression. It reaffirms Nana Haji Malcolm X’s teaching that “freedom is essential to life itself. Freedom is essential to the development of the human being. (And) If we don’t have freedom, we can never expect justice and equality.” Indeed, “only after freedom do justice and equality become a reality” in the fullest sense of the principle and practice.

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) reminds us and reaffirms the enduring and essential truth that we must build the good world we all want and deserve. It teaches the centrality of togetherness in our constant quest for an inclusive freedom, justice, and peace. And it reaffirms the reality that only in collective work and responsibility can we achieve freedom, ensure justice, and build the peace and security of persons and peoples we all long and struggle for all over the world.

And as Nana Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune taught us, “Our task is to remake the world. It is nothing less than this.” And we must do this together, for freedom, justice, peace, and other goods are indivisible and they are vulnerable and unattainable in isolation.

And we know from the hard lessons of history and the irreducible requirements of our humanity that there can be no peace without justice, no justice without freedom and no freedom without the power, will and struggle of the peoples of the world to achieve and sustain these shared and vital goods.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) teaches us the principle and practice of shared work and shared wealth. Modeled on the shared harvest, it calls for cooperative work, respect of the rights of the workers and the needs of everyone for a life of dignity and economic security and the conditions and capacities to live a free, good, and meaningful life. It is rooted in the concept of kinship with and caring kindness toward others and the earth and cultivates a sensitivity for avoiding and resisting injuries to fellow humans and the natural world.

The principle and practice of Nia (Purpose) calls us to do good in and for the world, to pursue and practice freedom, justice, peace, caring, sharing and all that contributes to African and human good and the well-being of the world and all in it. Indeed, the ancestors teach us in the Odu Ifa that we should do things with joy for humans are divinely chosen and righteously challenged to do good in the world. And they remind us in the Husia that the good we do for others we are also doing for ourselves, for we are building the good and promising world we all want and deserve to live in and to leave as a storehouse of good for those who come after.

The principle and practice of Kuumba (Creativity) commits us to work and struggle for a new world and a new us that is rooted in the ancient African ethical imperative of serudj ta which is a moral obligation to constantly repair, renew and remake the world, making it more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it in the process and practice or repairing, renewing and remaking ourselves.

It teaches and urges us, in our relations with each other, others and the earth, to raise up what is in ruins, to repair what is damaged, to rejoin what is separated, to replenish what is depleted, to set right what is wrong, to strengthen what is weakened, and to make flourish that which is fragile, insecure and undeveloped.

And the principle and practice of Imani (Faith) teaches us to believe in the good and strive constantly to achieve it everywhere and in its most essential, inclusive and expansive forms. It reminds us that we must have faith in the future and the new world we seek to bring into being in order to imagine and build them.

And it is a faith that teaches us to believe that through hard work, long struggle and a whole lot of love and understanding, we can with other oppressed, struggling and progressive peoples reimagine and redraw the map of the world and put in place and develop conditions and capacities for everyone to live in dignity-affirming, life-enhancing and world-preserving ways and come into the fullness of themselves.

Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle.

VP Kamala Harris statement on Kwanzaa 2023

VP Kamala Harris released the following statement via Twitter on Kwanzaa:

Growing up, Kwanzaa was always a special time where we would come together to celebrate culture, community, and family.

Sending my warmest wishes to all who are celebrating in the United States and around the world. May your days be filled with love and light.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 26, 2023

VP Kamala Harris statement on Kwanzaa 2022

Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff released the following statement on Kwanzaa 2022:

When I was growing up, Kwanzaa was a special time in our home. Today, my family and I are reflecting on the seven principles. Happy Kwanzaa! pic.twitter.com/w1pFOIUU9G

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) December 26, 2022

Annual Founder’s Kwanzaa Message From Maulana Karenga

The following is the 2021 Annual Founder’s Kwanzaa Message From Maulana Karenga:

“Practicing Kwanzaa and the Seven Principles: Ensuring the Well-Being of the World”

Heri za Kwanzaa.

Happy Kwanzaa to African people everywhere throughout the world African community. We bring and send you Kwanzaa greetings of celebration, solidarity and continued struggle for a shared good in the world. And in the words and way of our ancestors, we wish for you all things good, pure and beautiful, all the good that heaven grants, the earth produces and the waters bring forth from their depths. Hotep. Ashe. Heri.

This season and celebration of Kwanzaa on its 55^th anniversary comes at a time when humanity and the world are in crisis: the pandemic of Covid-19 with all its destructive and deadly variants; erosion of the concept and practice of democracy; failed economies; continuing conflict and war and resultant massive displacement of peoples, famine and increased suffering. And there is continuing environmental degradation, climate change, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, destruction of species and species habitats, increased pollution, disappearance of the arctic ice, and the threatened loss of  island nations.

As a pan-African holiday with ancient agricultural origins, Kwanzaa celebrates the good of the earth and carries within it a commitment to protect, preserve and share this good. And Kwanzaa’s modern origins in the Black Freedom Movement commits it to the achievement of liberation and social justice. Thus, in Kawaida philosophy, out of which Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba were created, environmental justice and social justice are inseparably linked in the moral imperative to achieve and ensure African and human good and the well-being of the world.

Dr. Wangari Maathai gave her life to the practice of joining the struggle for social justice with the struggle for environmental justice. She also understood that we need not sacrifice the good of human beings for the well-being of the world nor sacrifice the well-being of the world for the good of human beings. What is called for is a complementary justice; where justice for one is conceived and practiced with and through justice for both. She speaks of how in the uncritical acceptance of colonialism’s views and values about the earth “hallowed landscapes lost their sacredness and were exploited as the people became insensitive to the destruction, accepting it as progress.” Thus, she calls for an expansion of “democratic space” in which the people make decisions in their own interests, rediscover their voices and values, and rebuild their social and natural world in rightful, effective and mutually beneficial ways.

Long before the concept and call of environmentalism emerged, the brilliant scientist and chemurgist, Nana Dr. George Washington Carver, was an environmentalist concerned about both social justice and the well-being of the world. He taught that we should respect ourselves and others and he asked us to “neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.” Rather we are to aid “the little and lowly people” in their struggles to overcome poverty and oppression and live lives of dignity and decency. Moreover, he taught us to love nature, listen to its speech, and learn its language and lessons for the good of humans and the world. And he asks us not to hoard, monopolize or be greedy in relation to the good of the world, but to be those “who take (their) share of the world and let other people have theirs.”

The concept and practice of saving and sustaining the world is unavoidably linked to humans equitably sharing the world and doing what ensures the well-being of the world. And the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, offers us a clear foundation and way forward for this. And thus, we are urged to relate rightfully, act justly and walk gently and humbly on the earth. The principle and practice of Umoja (Unity), teaches an ever-expanding sense of self through our sense of oneness with others and the world. With others we are fellow human beings (watu) with obligations of mutual respect, reciprocal solidarity and cooperation for common good. And in our relationship with the world, we are world beings (walimwengu), deeply embedded in the natural as well as social world, interrelated, interdependent and unavoidably responsible for the health, wholeness and well-being of both. Thus, we understand that damage to the world is damage to us and ecocide is a form of genocide, the end of all.

The principle and practice of Kujichagulia (Self-determination), as Nana Haji Malcolm teaches us, is “to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself.” And this is to be done, not in isolation, but in community and in the midst of struggle for justice, freedom and good in the world. It means not being satisfied with prevailing established order thought, but doing deep thinking about the current conditions and future of the world, and as the ancestors taught: think deep about what is good for the people and for the future of the world.

The principle and practice of Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) urges acceptance of the shared responsibility to work together for good in the world, the good of freedom, justice, equity, peace, mutual caring and cooperation and building the good world we all want and deserve and leave as a legacy worthy of the name African and human. It is a work and struggle that require a genuine and sustained moral sensitivity to others, their aspirations for the good as well as an ethical commitment to the well-being of the world and to the struggle to achieve both.

Upholding the principle and practice of Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) teaches us the essential value of shared work and shared wealth and the right of everyone to a life of dignity and decency. It urges us to cultivate a kinship in and with the world, to reject artificially created conflicts between a robust economy and a rightful relationship with the environment. And it teaches respect of the earth as shared sacred space and common good, not to be plundered, polluted and depleted by corporation greed and aggression and consumerist consumption without consideration of consequences to the world.

In embracing the principle and practice of Nia (Purpose), we foreground and foster the ancient moral teaching of the Odu Ifa that we should do things with joy “for surely humans have been divinely chosen to bring good into the world.” And this is the fundamental mission and meaning of human life. And it reminds us that even as we are chosen by history and heaven to bring good into the world, we must also choose to do it. It means audaciously choosing the good for the world and acting accordingly. This means choosing in thought and practice love over hate, peace over war, freedom over unfreedom, justice over injustice, sharing over hoarding, and liberation from oppressions of all kinds, forms and fashions.

The principle and practice of Kuumba (Creativity) invites and urges us to work and struggle mightily for communities, societies and a world more beautiful and beneficial than the ones we inherited. It raises up the ancient African ethical imperative of the Husia to practice serudj ta, i.e.,  to constantly repair, renew and remake the world. We are to see this repair, renewal and remaking as both a social initiative and an environmental one. For again, the issues, impact and outcomes are interrelated and interdependent. Thus, we must, in our relations with each other, other humans, and the natural world: raise up what is ruins; repair what is damaged; rejoin what is separated; replenish what is depleted, strengthen what is weakened; set right what is wrong; and make firm and flourish that which is fragile, insecure and underdeveloped.

Finally, the principle and practice of Imani (Faith) teaches us and urges us to believe in our people, in the good we seek, strive and struggle for and in our capacity to achieve and share it. And we must believe in the righteousness and victory of our struggle to bring and sustain good in the world. It also urges us to believe in the coming good of the future and our young peoples’ will, consciousness, capacity and commitment to forge it and to share it equitably and caringly. For we and they and what we do during this crisis and long after are actually the future unfolding through the transformative power of righteous and relentless struggle, “to bring good in the world and not let any good be lost,” as our honored ancestors taught us.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Kwanzaa Message

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris delivered a message to all who celebrate Kwanzaa, on this the first day of the seven day holiday. Watch her video below:

The Principles of Kwanzaa: Day Seven IMANI

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the seventh day of Kwanzaa the days principle is IMANI.

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.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The principles of Kwanzaa: Day Six KUUMBA

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the sixth day of Kwanzaa the days principle is Kuumba.

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.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The Principles of Kwanzaa: Day Five NIA

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the fifth day of Kwanzaa the days principle is NIA.

Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The principles of Kwanzaa: Day Four UJAMAA

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the fourth day of Kwanzaa the days principle is UJAAMA.

Ujamaa (Cooperative economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The principles of Kwanzaa: Day Three Ujima

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the third day of Kwanzaa the days principle is UJIMA.

UJIMA: "To build and maintain our community together and to make our Brother's and sister's problems, our problems and to solve them together."

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The principles of Kwanzaa: Day Two Kujichagulia

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the second day of Kwanzaa the days principle is Kujichagulia.

Kujichagulia (koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-ah) - Self-determination - Responsibility for one's own future.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The principles of Kwanzaa: Day One Umoja

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy," consisting of what Karenga called "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world." They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning "common". Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven.

On this, the first day of Kwanzaa the days principle is Umoja.

Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

Statement by the President Obama on Kwanzaa

President Obama has released the following statement on the celebration of Kwanzaa:

In this holiday season, Michelle and I send our best wishes to those celebrating Kwanzaa. For families across the country, today marks the beginning of a joyous time to reflect on the rich African-American culture and to remember the principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith - principles that reflect our most cherished values as Americans.

As we reflect upon this year, we look forward to the blessings and aspirations that await us in the year to come and we wish those families that will gather together and light the Kinara blessings for a happy and healthy new year.

50th Anniversary Founder’s Kwanzaa Statement

Kwanzaa founder, Dr. Maulana Karenga has released the following statement celebrating the 50th anniversary of Kwanzaa.

The 50th anniversary of the pan-African holiday, Kwanzaa, of necessity brings added focus and emphasis on its customary call for remembrance, reflection and recommitment. We remember our history and the legacies left and the people who made and left them for us and the world. We reflect on the expansive meaning of being African in the world, on the context and issues of our times, and on our way forward in struggle to forge a future responsive to our needs and interests as well as those of the world. And we recommit ourselves to our highest values, to our most anchoring, elevating and liberating practices, and as ever to the good of our people and the well-being of the world.

At this historical milestone and marker, it is good to remember and reflect on the origins of Kwanzaa, not only in the ancient African festivals of harvest and shared good, but also its origins in the relentless and righteous struggles of the Sixties, i.e., the Black Freedom Movement for freedom, justice, equality, and power of our people over their destiny and daily lives. For deeply embedded and ever-present in the celebration of Kwanzaa and the practice of its founding principles, the Nguzo Saba, is the constant call for and commitment to striving and struggling. Here, I use striving and struggling interchangeably, with the meaning being exerting great and focused effort to achieve, excel and advance. For the struggle, as we imagined and waged it and continue to do so, is not only to defy and defeat the oppressor, but also to overturn ourselves, removing from ourselves the legacy of oppression, clearing social space in which we can live, love, work, build and relate freely, and striving diligently then to come into the fullness of ourselves.

On this 50th anniversary celebration of Kwanzaa, it is only right and appropriate that we pay rightful homage to those who brought us to this good and beautiful point. First, we offer sacred water and words first to our ancestors, ancient and modern, for the culture they created, the battles they fought, the lessons they taught, the legacies they left and the ways they opened for us.

Read more: 50th Anniversary Founder’s Kwanzaa Statement

Statement by President Obama and the First Lady on Kwanzaa

President Obama and his wife have released the following statement in honor of Kwanzaa

Michelle and I extend our warmest wishes to families across the country celebrating Kwanzaa this holiday season. Today begins a week-long celebration of African-American heritage and culture through family and community festivities. Kwanzaa’s seven principles – unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith – are also shared values that bind us as Americans. And in the spirit of the season, we reflect on the blessings of the past year and commit to building a brighter future for all our children. As families, friends, and neighbors come together today to light the Kinara, our family sends our best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

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Statement from the President and the First Lady on Kwanzaa

Michelle and I extend our warmest wishes to those celebrating Kwanzaa this holiday season. Today begins a celebration highlighting the rich African American heritage and culture through the seven principles of Kwanzaa—unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. During this season, families come together to reflect on blessings of the past year and look forward to the promises in the year ahead. As we remain committed to building a country that provides opportunity for all, this time of year reminds us that there is much to be thankful for.

As families around the world unite to light the Kinara today, our family extends our prayers and best wishes during this holiday season.