7 Principles of Kwanzaa

Creator of Kwanzaa, 1965

Umoja – Unity
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Kujichagulia – Self Determination
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves
and speak for ourselves.

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.

Ujamas – Cooperative Economics
To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia – Purpose
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

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.

Imani – Faith
To believe with all our heart in our people, in our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggles.

Dr. Maulana Karenga