1. Celebrate The Seven Principals of Kwanzaa Celebrate Education
Celebrate Kwanzaa
Celebrate The Seven Principals of Kwanzaa
Celebrate Education

2. Kukaribisha Means welcome. Ntoo mu Amadou Bamba le ti (Mandinka)
My name is Amadou Bamba AKA Dr. David Piper
I will guide you through this presentation
The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits.” The choice of Swahili, a language with its roots based in East Africa Regions, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially reflective of 1960s.

3. Celebrate Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is organized around five fundamental activities:
the gathering of family, friends, and community;
reverence for the Elders and Ancestors
commemoration for the past, learning lessons and emulating achievements of African/African American historical figures;
recommitment to the highest cultural ideals, for example, truth, justice, respect for people and nature, care for the vulnerable, and
celebration of the “Good of Life”

4. Celebrate Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is celebrated through rituals, dialogue, narratives, poetry, dancing, singing, drumming and other music and feasting
A central practice is the lighting of the Mishumaa (seven candles) of Kwanzaa. A candle is lit each day for each of the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principals)

5. DO YOU CELEBRATE KWANZAA?
Do you strive to maintain unity in your family
Do you set goals and act upon them firmly in spite of opposition or difficulty
Do you help your friends at work, church, school, or in your community
Do you patronize African/African American owned businesses, i.e., barber and beauty salons, restaurants, or clothing stores, etc.

6. DO YOU CELEBRATE KWANZAA
Do you belong to any organization that strive to make your neighborhoods clean, and safe
Do you help plan, participate, organize or support activities that benefit our children
Do you believe that YOU CAN make a difference?

7. DO YOU CELEBRATE KWANZAA
Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 focused on African/African-Americans celebrating themselves and their history, rather than simply imitating the practices of the dominant society.
As an African/African American celebration Kwanzaa brings a cultural message speaking to the best of what it means to be African/African American and human in the fullest sense.
The original time frame for the ceremony and celebration is December twenty six (26) through January one (1) in any given year

8. NGUZO SABA The Seven Principles
Fundamental values found in the practice of Kwanzaa
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

9. UMOJA LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
First candle is lit on December 26 of any given year
(OO-MO-JAH)
UNITY to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

10. Serve as moral guides for the community
Family unity
maintaining family identity and togetherness
balancing family priorities with support for individual needs.
creating daily routines as well as special traditions and celebrations
affirming members, connecting to family roots
Strong families is a feeling that all can depend on each other in “good” times and “bad” times.

11. KUJICHAGULIA LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
Second candle is lit on December 27 of any given year
(KOO-GEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-YAH)
SELF-DETERMINATION requires that we define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

12. Restore lost history and culture
Particularly as a group, called African Americans, we have not looked at ourselves “naturally” since the psycho-social historical trauma of enslavement took place
We have taken the naturalistic observation of Euro-American scientist and their armchair theorizing and have arbitrarily attributed that reality and those hypothesis to ourselves
That’s why people of African heritage living in the United States can not remember their connection to the continent Al-kebulan (Africa).
As a people of African Heritage we must recover our memory, history, culture, our ways of behaving.
We must reconstruct the best of our History and Culture.

13. Education is Healthy
Education promotes a positive self image: confidence provides enriched life experience and mental well being
Education provides lifelong learning: increases brain cells and decreases Alzheimer’s and other degenerative brain conditions due to age

14. UJIMA LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
Third candle is lit on December 28 of any given year
(OO-GEE-MAH)
COLLECTIVE WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY
the principle that reminds us of our obligation and responsibility to supporting our society
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

15. Education is Social Networking
Education helps to develop new interests
Education promotes lifelong friends including teachers, counselors and others who assist in guiding and planning
Education helps to decide a profession or field of interest; it even provides opportunities to “test drive” a profession

16. Celebrate Education
Commit Social Responsibility to the Future and to Future Generations
Education is the Great Equalizer for Ethnic and Socio-economic conditions – it balances life
Education is Fun and is a Lifestyle/The Journey is Lifelong

17. UJAMAA LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES (OO-JAH-MAH) COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS
Fourth candle is lit on December 29 of any given year
(OO-JAH-MAH)
COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

18. COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS
Essentially a commitment to the practice of shared social wealth and the work necessary to achieve it.
It grows out of the fundamental communal concept that social wealth belongs to the masses of people who created it and that no one should have such an unequal amount of wealth that it gives him/her the capacity to impose unequal, exploitative or oppressive relations on others
It is essential because without the principle and practice of shared wealth. the social conditions for exploitation oppression and inequality as well as deprivation and suffering are increased.

19. NIA LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
Fifth candle is lit on December 30 of any given year
(NEE-AH)
PURPOSE To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

20. Education Develops Life Skills
Technology
Rights as a citizen: voting, issues, environment
Reasoning skills that help in decision making, relationships, moral judgments, tolerance, reflection, and communication
Education helps to “walk in another’s shoes”
Education provides a safe place to practice skills before entering the workplace

21. KUUMBA LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
Sixth candle is lit on December 31 of any given year
(KOO-OOM-BAH)
is the special spirit of creativity and ingenuity that affirms the contributions of our ancestors, our entire community, and influential leaders.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

22. The Future and Education
Most will change careers at least four times within a lifetime
The future will use technology not yet invented
The future will have access to information at all times in all places
The top ten in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004
By 2018 the United States will need 22 million new college degrees-but will fall short of that number by at least 3 million postsecondary degrees
By 2018 the United States will need at least 4.7 million new workers with postsecondary certificates

23. IMANI LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
Seventh candle is lit on January 1 of any given year
(KOO-OOM-BAH)
is the special spirit of creativity and ingenuity that affirms the contributions of our ancestors, our entire community, and influential leaders.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES

24. Celebrate Education Fiscal and Personal Health
A Lifelong Network of Professional and Personal Friends
Develops Life Skills That Can be Passed on to Family and Community

25. Matunda ya kwanzaa!