what is the celebration and what country does celebrated? I am not english speaker but someone gave me a calendar in english and it appear januay Ist finished this holiday
Kwanzaa is a week-long secular celebration in the United States honoring African heritage and culture, marked by participants lighting a candle holder called a, "Kinara". It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It is not a religious holiday.
Kwanzaa features activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and ending in a feast and gift giving to children who receive educational books and pieces of african art and clothing. It was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966. Dr. Karenga is an american of african heritage and currently a Professor and Academic Advisor Department of Africana Studies at California State University.
Originally, Kwanzaa was created to give people of african heritage an alternative to the existing holidays and an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practices of the dominant society. The founder later decided it should not be an alternative to faith based holidays and was simply a celebration of african history and culture and could be celebrated along with the other holidays by anyone. However, very few people actually celebrate the holiday. It is estimated that only one half to two million people celebrate kwanzaa. Most people of african heritage today prefer to consider themselves to just be american.
The links below provide more details.
January 27th, 2010 at 1:09 am
Kwanzaa is a week-long secular celebration in the United States honoring African heritage and culture, marked by participants lighting a candle holder called a, "Kinara". It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It is not a religious holiday.
Kwanzaa features activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and ending in a feast and gift giving to children who receive educational books and pieces of african art and clothing. It was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966. Dr. Karenga is an american of african heritage and currently a Professor and Academic Advisor Department of Africana Studies at California State University.
Originally, Kwanzaa was created to give people of african heritage an alternative to the existing holidays and an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practices of the dominant society. The founder later decided it should not be an alternative to faith based holidays and was simply a celebration of african history and culture and could be celebrated along with the other holidays by anyone. However, very few people actually celebrate the holiday. It is estimated that only one half to two million people celebrate kwanzaa. Most people of african heritage today prefer to consider themselves to just be american.
The links below provide more details.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org
January 27th, 2010 at 1:50 am
Kwanzaa is celebrated by African-Americans to honor their African heritage(s).
Here’s more information:
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml
References :