Kwanzaa St. Pete begins celebration of family, community and culture Thursday

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — December 26 marks day one of the seven-day Kwanzaa holiday.

Unlike the other holidays we think of around this time of year, Kwanzaa is not religious. It's celebrated alongside them.

According to the National Museum of African-American History, Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday that celebrates history, values, family, community and culture.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 to unify and empower African Americans after the Watts Riot in Los Angeles.

For years, Kwanzaa St. Pete has highlighted the holiday for all to partake in.

Shundra Allison is involved with the celebrations. She owns Urban Drinkery, where day six of the celebration takes place in the city.

Allison said it's important that she not only celebrate but also get involved.

"Celebrating community, family and culture. I think all those things are very important to have a thriving life, especially, you know, as an African American," she said. "Just to cultivate that loving of community, family and your culture. That's what makes it wonderful."

For each day of Kwanzaa, a candle is lit.

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The candles are red, green and black. Red represents the blood that was shed for liberation, black represents the people of African descent and green represents hope for the future.

Each candle represents one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

But within the circles of Kwanzaa, those principles go by different names: the Swahili words. Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith).

"The role we play here in Urban Drinkery, we actually do day six, which is Kuumba. It means creativity, and I think it was perfect for us," Allison said.

Although the words are written in Swahili, the message is universal.

"Celebrating community, family and culture. I think all those things are very important to have a thriving life," Allison added.

For a full list of when and where to celebrate Kwanzaa, you can find all of the details here.