A few weeks before Christmas Jasper came home from school and said "We need to celebrate Kwanzaa. Can we do Kwanzaa this year?"
I had to admit that I knew very little about Kwanzaa. He said "I learned about it at school. Its for African Americans. So we need to celebrate it." David and I said we would do some research about it first and then we'd talk about it.
We learned that Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring African heritage and culture. There is quite a bit to it really. I was initially worried that it was a celebration to replace Christmas, but actually (according to the Kwanzaa official website) "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday. And it is not an alternative to people's religion or faith but a common ground of African culture...Kwanzaa is not a reaction or substitute for anything."
Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles. This year as our first year of celebration (and kind of a last minute decision) we decided to focus on just one of the principles, Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
We also decided to learn more about Jasper's father's country, Central African Republic . David taught us all about its history, and I showed us where it
was on the Map. 
Jasper was in charge of a family night.
Next year will do more and learn more. It is an exciting new tradition!
6 comments:
That's very interesting... I've never known anything about that holiday... I'll be interested in what you do next year. Good job! xox
that is really cool. kilee should do something like that for her baby. . . when she gets bigger.
What a great idea. I never knew that much about Kwanzaa. Cool new tradion!
That is great! My mom has done som Kwanzaa stuff for my adopted sisters in the past and I think she has some good books. I don't know too much about it, but I could ask her if ya want!
That is so fun!! I want to learn more about it as well.
That's so great you guys could learn more -- I learn from your example. And what a great new tradition!
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