
THE KWANZAA PRINCIPLES*
Umoja [OO-MO-JAH] ("U-N-I-T-Y" Queen Latifah)
- To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, race.
(Black Candle)
"There is a battle to be fought, there are obstacles to be overcome.
There is a world struggle for human dignity to be won. Let us address ourselves
seriously to the supreme tasks that lie ahead." Kwame Nkrumah
Kujichagulia [KOO-GEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-YAH]
(Self-Determination) - To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for
ourselves and speak for ourselves instead of being defined, named, created
for and spoken for by others. (Red Candle)
"Up you mighty race, you can accomplish what you will."
Marcus Mosiah Garvey
Ujima [OO-GEE-MAH]
(Creative Work & Responsibility) - To build and maintain our community
together and make our sisters' and brothers' problems our problems and
solve them together. (Green Candle)
"I freed thousands of slaves, I could have freed thousands more, if
they had known they were slaves." Harriet Ross Tubman
Ujamaa [OO-JAH-MAH]
(Cooperative Economics) - To build and maintain our own stores and other
businesses and to profit from them together. (Red Candle)
"I am not a millionaire, but I hope to be some day, not for the money,
but because I could do so much to help my race." Madame C.J.
Walker
Nia [NEE-YAH]
(Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building and developing
of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
(Green Candle)
"Policies change, programs change, according to time. But objectives
never changes. You might change your method of achieving the objective,
but the objective never changes. Our objective is complete freedom, complete
justice, complete equality, by any means necessary." Malcolm
X
Kuumba [KOO-OOM-BAH]
(Creativity) - To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order
to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited
it. (Red Candle)
"Potential powers of creativity are within us and we have the duty to
work asssduously to discover these powers." Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Imani [EE-MAH-NEE]
(Faith) - To believe with all our people, our parents, our teachers, our
leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. (Green Candle)
"Keep the faith, baby." Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Quotes from Pyramid Design Enterprises' KWANZAA MOBILE
*Each candle represents a
principle and are placed in the Kinara as pictured above.
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