Kwanzaa celebrates seven important principles of life.

Kwanzaa is a holiday that celebrates African American family and culture while promoting important principles of life. Although the holiday is less than 4 decades old, many of its traditions and symbols have roots in African harvest festivals from such cultures as the Zulu and Ashanti, a fact that makes Kwanzaa both relevant and important to the millions of Americans who observe and celebrate it.

Itibari M. Zulu is director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies Library & Media Center at UCLA. He is also vice president of the African Diaspora Foundation, provost of instruction and curriculum at Amen-Ra Theological Seminary, the author-editor of four books, and the African & African American editor for MultiCultural Review magazine. Here he introduces readers to the ideas and symbols behind the holiday of Kwanzaa.

• Celebrate seven principles.
  Kwanzaa lasts for seven days, and each day is dedicated to celebrating an important principal of living. In order, these principles are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).
  
• Light seven candles in the Kinara.
  Each of these seven principles is represented by a candle in the Kinara, or the Kwanzaa candleholder, and the candles can be lit over the course of the seven-day holiday.
  
• Pass the Unity Cup.
  Another important symbol of Kwanzaa celebrations is the unity cup. Traditionally, the unity cup is passed from a gathering's main host to the co-host, symbolizing the circle of unity that binds people together.
  
• Look to the past and the future.
  Kwanzaa is also a time to consider the past and the future. People can come together and reflect on what has happened in the past year and what will come in the next.