FAST FACTS About Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa has seven basic symbols. Each represents values and concepts reflective of African culture:
Mazao (The Crops): African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor.
Mkeka (The Mat): Tradition and history.
Kinara (The Candle Holder): Symbolic of African roots.
Kinara (The Candle Holder): Symbolic of African roots.
Muhindi (The Corn): Children and the future which they embody.
Mishumaa Saba (The Seven Candles): Symbolic of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles which African people are urged to live by in order to rescue and reconstruct their lives in their own image and according to their own needs. They are unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba) and faith (imani).
Kikombe cha Umoja (The Unity Cup): The foundational principle and practice of unity which makes all else possible.
Zawadi (The Gifts): The labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children.
A supplemental symbol:
Bendera (The Flag): The colors of the Kwanzaa flag; black for the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle. It is based on the colors given by Marcus Garvey as national colors for African people throughout the world. Garvey was the Jamaican-U.S. black nationalist leader who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914.