Kwanzaa

English

Etymology

Coined by Maulana Karenga from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza (“first fruits”).^[1] The additional “a” was added to “Kwanza” so that the word would have seven letters, one for each of the Seven Principles of Blackness.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkwɑnzə/
Audio (US): (file)

Proper noun

Kwanzaa (plural Kwanzaas)

A week-long African-American cultural holiday held between December 26 and January 1.
- 1983 December 30, Ron Alexander, “The Evening Hours”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, page B7:
  On Tuesday night at the Club Serene in Brooklyn, Mayor Koch proclaimed Kwanzaa Week in New York. Then he told the crowd of about 400 that he had practiced his Swahili in order to pronounce correctly such exotic-sounding words as kujichagulia (self-determination), ujamaa (cooperative economics) and imani (faith), the theme of Kwanzaa '83.
- 1997 January 5, Maureen Dowd, “WASP's Bite Back”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:
  But now, WASP's want their place in the multicultural sun. Social rituals are social rituals. If there is Kwanzaa, why not cotillions?
- 2021 January 30, Christina Morales, “A 10-Year-Old GameStop Investor Cashed In. His Return? Over 5,000%”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:
  Spying a way to use her son’s enthusiasm for video games to teach him about investing, Jaydyn’s mother, Nina Carr, decided to invest in 10 shares of GameStop at $6.19 a share for a Kwanzaa gift.

Derived terms

happy Kwanzaa

References

^ Mugane, John M. (2015) The Story of Swahili (Africa in World History), Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, →ISBN, pages 254-255: “Karenga created the holiday Kwanzaa in 1966. The word Kwanzaa is taken from the Swahili kwanza (first), inspired by the custom in a good number of African communities of gathering together to celebrate the first fruits of the harvest.”