Kwanzaa Culinarians

Recipes and Food Stories from the African Diaspora

Baked King Fish

Understanding Kujichagulia: A Journey Into Self-Awareness

We face neither East nor West; we face Forward. by Kwame Nkrumah Kujichagulia (pron: koo-jee-chah-GOO-lee-ah) is the guiding principle of the second day of Kwanzaa. Defined as self-determination, it affirms … Continue reading →

December 2, 2012 · 1 Comment
Sarina’s Ochro Rice

Umoja: Sarina’s Ochro Rice

Umoja/Unity: To strive for a principled and harmonious togetherness in family, community, nation, and world.” What is unity? Is it the sharing of a single purpose, a single outlook? Is … Continue reading →

December 26, 2011

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Learn more about Kwanzaa

The word "Kwanzaa" comes from the phrase, "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first-fruits." Kwanzaa's extra "a" evolved as a result of a particular history of the Organization Us. It was clone as an expression of African values in order to inspire the creativity of our children. In the early days of Us, there were seven children who each wanted to represent a letter of Kwanzaa. Since kwanza (first) has only six letters, we added an extra "a" to make it seven, thus creating "Kwanzaa." To learn more about Kwanzaa, visit the Official Kwanzaa Website.