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Kwanzaa is an African-American holiday that celebrates family, community and culture. Celebrated from December 26 through January 1, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits" in Swahili. The holiday has been celebrated in the United States for 40 years, not without controversy.

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are:

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 our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

These are some of the books Elizabeth Kennedy from About.com recommends for Kwanzaa:

• Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story
• My First Kwanza Book
• It’s Kwanzaa Time!
• Crafts For Kwanzaa (Holiday Crafts for Kids)
• Kwanzaa Karamu: Cooking and Crafts for a Kwanzaa Feast

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