Event

Celebration of Kwanzaa

Evening Celebration of Kwanzaa

7 Artists will have 7 minutes to present the 7 African principles that make up the 7 days of Kwanzaa.

This special evening of theatre will cost $7, followed by a reception representing the traditional feast held on Imani, the 7th and final day of Kwanzaa with 7 different entrees.

Founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1963, Kwanzaa was created to build a bridge for the traditional African values to reach and reinforce African American and African Communities throughout the world. The values are called Nguzo Saba, which in Swahili means; The Seven Principles. These Seven Principles are the heart of the holiday and are observed over the seven days from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving.

The 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 profit from them together.
- Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and development 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.