“Habari Gani?”
“Kwanzaa!”
“What’s up?”
“Kwanzaa!!”
It’s that time of year again when the kinara is placed on the centerpiece and lit with seven black, red and green candles. The ears of corn sit atop the mat symbolizing the children in the house, while the centerpiece basket overflowing with fruit symbolizes the abundance of the harvest. Libation is poured into the Chalice of Unity and offered to guests. Gifts, usually homemade or purchased from Black-owned shops, are exchanged.
The Origins and Traditions of Kwanzaa—Plus the Delicious Ways People Celebrate Today
No part of Kwanzaa does this more than the Karamu Feast on December 31. On that day, folks observing the holiday come together—either in smaller groups as families or in larger ones as communities—to honor the renewal, rededication and resilience that Kwanzaa symbolizes. I savor the ways in which the feast allows for multigenerational transmission of history and culture: how youngsters sit and listen to their elders talk of their pasts and of the common and convoluted history that binds us all.
I delight in the sharing of stories and especially in the communing together over food. And what food it is! Home-cooked dishes calling on culinary traditions from family recipe boxes and far-flung corners of the African diaspora grace the Karamu tables. They too tell tales of traditions shared, of foods grown, of communities nurtured and of just how the ancestors, elders, youths and children are connected in one unbroken chain.
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