Kwanzaa Culinarians

Recipes and Food Stories from the African Diaspora

Cooking Up a Heritage Connection: Me, Grandma and a Pot of Beans

By Shannon Mustipher Kuumba is one of my favorite Kwanzaa principles, because all of us have creative potential at our disposal to positively affect our situation and that of those … Continue reading →

December 31, 2012 · 1 Comment

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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.