Kwanzaa Today is the second day of a seven day celebration Habari Gani is Swahili for what s the news? and is the greeting each day for Kwanzaa observers from December 26th to January 1st. The next seven days is a time dedicated to honoring African American and Pan-African culture and traditions.
The name comes from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, which means first fruits, and is a reference to the children who will grow and ripen to respect African traditions .
Kwanzaa was created in 1966, after the Watts riots in Los Angeles, by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a black nationalist, and professor of Pan-African studies at California State University at Long Beach. Dr. Karenga was looking for a way to bring Black Americans together as a community.