Holidays: African American
Kwanzaa

By Dr. Pegge Vissicaro, Interim Chair, Department of Dance

Kwanzaa (KWAHN-zah) is a celebration about African cultures. It is about what they value, think is important.

If you want help with the vocabulary, click on the words in red to find their definition. Or click on My Vocabulary to create your own dictionary.

The name, Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili term, matunda yakwanza, which means "first fruits of the harvest". Swahili is a language spoken by over 50 million people in the Central African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. In 1966, Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in the United States. It is a celebration that gives people of African descent, living in places outside of Africa, the chance to reconnect to their roots. But Kwanzaa also is a time when everyone can learn more about African customs and traditions.

In the study of Africa, it is important to know where it is on the world map.

Also Click on http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/world.htm

Now, let's think about the countries in the continent of Africa. Click on on http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/africa.htm

Africa is the second largest continent (Asia is the largest). It has over 20% of the Earth's landmass and 15% of the world's population, or people. Look at the pie charts below to help you think about what this means.

Africa has 11,600,000 square miles. The rest of the world has 45,800,000 square miles of land.

Africa has 778,000,000 people. The rest of the world has 5,357,000,000.

There are 55 countries in Africa. The biggest one is Sudan. The smallest is Seychelles. Remember that in each country, people speak different languages and have different religions. Also, they have different customs, ways of doing things. For example, many Egyptians speak Arabic and are Muslim. Most people from Ghana, Ghanaians, speak English and are Christian. The geography, language, religious beliefs, and other ways of life are not at all similar.

With your teacher you may want to find out more about Ghana or other countries in Africa.