what is kwanzaa?

Answer 1

1. Kwanzaa is a celebration of African heritage which began in the USA. You can read all about the origin and format of the seven day celebration in the following webpages.
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml
http://www.holidays.net/kwanzaa/
http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm
http://www.kwanzaalights.com/

2. Personally, I find it odd that Kwanzaa uses the East African language of Swahili for three main reasons.
a) Firstly, the slaves transported to the Americas came from West Africa.
b) Secondly, slaves were taken from East Africa, but eastwards to the Middle East, and beyond, and by the Arabs.
c) Thirdly, it is the involvement of Arabs in East Africa which led to the emergence of the Swahili language (Swahili having both Arabic and Bantu roots).
So it is a huge irony that Kwanzaa celebrates African American roots and identity through use of a language that originated with the enslavement of Africans, from a completely different region of Africa, and who were transported in the opposite direction to America! Where is the sense in that?
http://www.ipoaa.com/countries_of_slaves_origin.htm
http://christocentric.com/Kwanzaa/dearmore.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9chapter3.shtml
http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/arab.html
http://www.answering-islam.org/ReachOut/slavetrade.html

3. Note also that detractors point to the pagan nature of Kwanzaa, and the Marxist politics and criminal record of its founder.
http://www.nathanielturner.com/karenga2.htm
http://mediamatters.org/items/200412230012?show=1
http://christocentric.com/Kwanzaa/pagan.htm

Answer 2

Kwanzaa (or Kwaanza) is a week-long Pan-African festival primarily honoring African-American heritage. It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year, almost exclusively in the United States of America

Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration, featuring activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and culminating in a feast and gift-giving. It was founded by Ron Karenga, and first celebrated from December 26, 1966, to January 1, 1967. For a more in-depth look, see the link below: