Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States honoring African heritage and culture. Created by Ron and Maulana Karenga in 1966, the seven days of celebration are held from December 26 to January 1. The holiday is often celebrated in conjunction with Christmas.

The main focus of the holiday is the celebration of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

During the seven days of celebration, families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art, colorful African cloth and fresh fruits that represent African idealism, light kinara candles, and share libations with a common chalice.

References

• Tyler James Williams and his family are shown celebrating Kwanzaa in Elmo's World: Happy Holidays! and A Sesame Street Christmas Carol.

• In the Bear in the Big Blue House episode "A Berry Bear Christmas", Shadow sings of Kwanzaa with the song "It's Kwanzaa Time".

• Sesame Street Magazine's Dec 2004/Jan 2005 issue featured a segment on Kwanzaa.

• The Sesame Street coloring book Celebrate! features Kwanzaa celebrations.

Big Bird and Elmo with a Kinara in the Sesame Street coloring book Celebrate!

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