Kwanzaa is a week-long holiday that celebrates African heritage, unity, and culture. It was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana studies, in the wake of the Watts riots in Los Angeles as a way to bring African Americans together and promote cultural pride. Kwanzaa is observed from December 26th to January 1st, with each day focusing on a different principle known as the Nguzo Saba.

The Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, are as follows: 1. Umoja (Unity) - To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race. 2. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) - To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves. 3. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) - To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together. 4. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) - To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together. 5. Nia (Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. 6. Kuumba (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. 7. Imani (Faith) - To believe with all of our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

During Kwanzaa, families and communities come together to light the Kinara, a candle holder with seven candles (3 red, 1 black, and 3 green) representing the Seven Principles. Celebrations may also include music, dance, storytelling, and traditional African dishes. Kwanzaa is a time for reflection, renewal, and recommitment to the values and principles that promote unity and prosperity within the Black community.