Heri Za Kwanzaa! Happy Kwanzaa! City Celebrates With Special Tuesday Event

The Pasadena Public Library is hosting the city’s Kwanzaa celebration virtually on Tuesday after the weeklong annual tradition kicked off Sunday.

Pasadena’s 33rd annual Kwanzaa celebration will be broadcast from 11 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. through Zoom. Registration can be made by clicking here. Normally held in person at La Pintioresca Public Library, this year’s celebration is to be broadcast instead to protect the public’s health from the pandemic.

Kwanzaa is Swahili for “first fruits.”

The 2021 theme of Kwanzaa is “Practicing Kwanzaa and the Seven Principles: Ensuring the Well-Being of the World.”

“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,” Maulana Karenga wrote in his annual founder’s message. “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.”

Karenga, chair of Africana Studies at Cal State Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966 in what he called “an audacious act of self-determination.”

Karenga describes the holiday as “a celebration of family, community and culture and celebrated by millions throughout the world African community. Kwanzaa brings a cultural message, which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.”

Kwanzaa’s focus is the “Nguzo Saba,” the Seven Principles — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

During the week, a candelabrum called a Kinara is lit, and ears of corn representing each child in the family are placed on a traditional straw mat.

African foods such as millet, spiced pepper balls and rice are often served. Some people fast during the holiday, and a feast is often held on its final night.

A flag with three bars — red for the struggle for freedom, black for unity and green for the future — is sometimes displayed during the holiday.

Kwanzaa is based on the theory of Kawaida, which espouses that social revolutionary change for Black America can be achieved by exposing Blacks to their cultural heritage.

With the Pasadena Public Library’s Zoom event, everyone in the community can join the celebration and learn about Kwanzaa, as well as enjoy music and stories about the African American heritage. A Kwanzaa “kinara” children’s craft project will be available for pick-up at the La Pintoresca Branch Library on December 27 through December 30.

The kinara is a seven-space candle holder, representing the original stalk from which the African people originated. The “mishumaa saba,” or seven candles, stand for the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa: “umoja,” or unity; “kujichagulia” or self-determination; “ujima” or collective work and responsibility; “ujamaa” or cooperative economics; “nia” or purpose; “kuumba” or creativity; and “imani” or faith.

To sign up the event that’s open for all ages, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/library/calendar and click on the December 28, 11 a.m. tab. A link to the Zoom event will be sent to your email address.