48 years ago today was the first celebration of Kwanzaa, a Pan-African and African American holiday founded by Maulana Karenga during the civil rights movement. Kwanzaa lasts from December 26th through January 1st. It is a non-religious holiday, created to preserve and promote African American culture.
Today, millions of African Americans embrace Kwanzaa by gathering around a table for seven nights to light the candles of the kinara, representing seven principles of African American culture. Other African Americans, however have refrained from celebrating the holiday and are concerned about where Kwanzaa fits in the black American experience.
In 2011, for Kwanzaa’s 45th anniversary, we invited Dr. Sheri Parks, an Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland at College Park and Dr. William Stuart an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Maryland at College Park to talk about the Kwanzaa’s origins and its reception by black Americans. We spoke in December 2011.
