African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 404
culture, the family discusses the meaning of the principle by reciting a story, poem, or
history about Africans or African Americans.
Near the end of the holiday, usually the evening of December 31, the family or
community gathers for a feast, called karamu. A typical karamu features African and
African American traditional foods; wearing of African attire; and African and African
American performances, music, and dancing. The feast ends with the final passing of the
unity cup, shouts of “Harambee!” meaning, “Let’s pull together,” and prayers or
blessings.
Significance
Kwanzaa is the first nonheroic African American holiday ever to come into existence.
Inspired by the black power movement of the 1960s and based on ancient African
celebrations, African Americans have been celebrating the holiday since 1965. By the
1990s, it had become increasingly popular and celebrated by more than 25 million people
in the United States, Canada, England, the Caribbean, and Africa.
Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday. Its celebration in December, strategically placed
after Christmas, does not challenge religious celebrations and beliefs; rather, it coexists
with other holidays. Many African American families, if not most, celebrate Christmas
and Kwanzaa. In fact, Kwanzaa’s celebrants emphasize that it is a nondenominational,
nonreligious, family and cultural celebration. In some communities, its secular nature has
made it the only December observance that can be celebrated using public funds, as it
does not challenge the separation between church and state. Since October 1997, the U.S.
Postal Service has issued a Kwanzaa commemorative stamp during the holiday season.
For most African Americans, Kwanzaa, unlike the celebration of Martin Luther King,
Jr. Day in January or Black History Month in February, resonates with the cultural
affirmation and political confrontations of the mid to late 1960s. Yet, in spite of its
origins in the 1960s black power movement and its affirmation under the philosophies of
Afrocentrism in the 1980s, by the 1990s, Kwanzaa was enthusiastically embraced by
American popular culture. It became more than an African American celebration; it was
thoroughly integrated—some might say coopted—into the marketplace and sold to the
American public in the form of Kwanzaa cards and wrapping paper; fabric for African
clothing and decorations; recognition on television and radio advertisements,
announcements, and programming; and incorporated into civic celebrations at public
libraries, museums, performances, and schools.
Kwanzaa’s commercialization has affirmed the ability of American capitalism to turn
culture and philosophy into marketable goods. Yet, in spite of its commercialization,
Kwanzaa’s integration into every arena of America’s holiday season and its acceptance
and popularity among African Americans has also affirmed the reality of American
society’s diversity and pluralism and the impact that African American life and culture
have had on American society.