Contributor – Donna Shambley-Ebron
“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” – Desmond Tutu
Today is the beginning of Kwanzaa, a weeklong celebration of history, family, community, and culture observed by African Americans and other people of African descent throughout the world. Although Kwanzaa is not generally observed on the continent of Africa, it is derived from traditional African values and practices. Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966 to reaffirm and restore African heritage and culture during the tumultuous period when Black Americans were in the midst of struggle for liberation. Kwanzaa, Swahili for “first fruits” a time of ingathering and harvest in African societies, combines historical African traditions and cultural values and ideals to build and strengthen community (Karenga, 2008).
Grounded in an Africentric worldview, the activities of Kwanzaa are centered in seven foundational values. Known as the Nguzo Saba, meaning Seven Principles in Swahili, these values express the communitarian tradition of African culture which is present in most Pan-African societies. Karenga, when selecting the seven principles, chose those values which would serve to strengthen the Black family, community, and culture (2008). Each day during the week of Kwanzaa, a candle is lit that represents the principle for the day; discussions are held, and stories are told that illustrate the principle. Various activities are held throughout the week including discussion of the Nguzo Saba among adults and children, crafts, games, children’s activities and presentations, pouring of libations and honoring the ancestors. The weeklong celebration ends with a feast and handmade gifts and books are given.
The seven principles and their descriptions are:
- 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 brothers’ and sisters’ problems, our problems, and to solve them together.
- Ujamaa (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, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Together, these seven principles of Kwanzaa, grounded in African philosophy focus on the creation, sustainability, and interdependency of families and communities that work collaboratively in harmony, togetherness, and solidarity. In addition, embedded in these principles, are an obligation to generosity, ending poverty, domination, exploitation, and oppression.
Each year, as I participate in the activities of Kwanzaa and reflect on its principles, I consider the Black nurses on whose shoulders I have stood, as well as the nurses who I’ve encouraged and mentored in my career in practice and academia over the years. I recognize that it is only through our interconnectedness that we have been able to achieve a measure of success and are able to work towards addressing the health care needs of our communities. More so, I think about the strength and power embedded in community; the value of cooperation and collaboration over competition; and how through caring, unity, harmony, and solidarity, we can achieve health equity in our society over time.
Kwanzaa is not only a holiday to be celebrated once a year, but it is an African- centered cultural philosophy that can be foundational for theory development in nursing. Most nursing theories that guide practice, are grounded in Eurocentric cultural values, lifeways, and experiences. However, the ontological perspective of the Nguzo Saba, that views being human as a relational and collective experience instead of an individual one, can be used as a basis for nursing theory development that focuses on community and collective existence as central concepts. The development of such theories has the potential to redefine nursing’s metaparadigm (person, environment, health, and nursing) and to guide nursing care that is meaningful and appropriate for communities that identify with an Africentric worldview (Bayuo, 2023).
Kwanzaa is a meaningful and influential cultural celebration and philosophy that has transformative power for communities and has implications for future nursing theory development. The 2023 theme is, “Kwanzaa, Freedom, Justice and Peace: Principles and Practices for a New World.” There is so much more to learn about the philosophy, history, symbolism, and practices of Kwanzaa.
You can learn more about Kwanzaa using these links:
https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/initiatives/kwanzaa
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/kwanzaa-history-traditions-information
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/kwanzaa-history
Bayuo, J. (2023). African philosophy and nursing: A potential twain that shall meet? Nursing Philosophy,e12472. https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12472.
Karenga, M. (2008). Kwanzaa: A celebration of family, community and culture. University of Sankore Press.
About Donna Shambley-Ebron, BSN, MSN, PhD
I have had the opportunity to travel, live, and work in almost every region of the United States, and have lived and visited in Europe, Africa, and Asia. During these experiences, I have lived with and cared for those whose culture differed greatly from my own. These life experiences were very meaningful to me. I became interested in Transcultural nursing as a discipline in the 1980s when working on my Master’s degree and followed this interest into doctoral study. I became a member of the Transcultural Nursing society in the 1990s and became engaged with the regional chapter in Georgia. I have developed and taught classes in Transcultural Nursing and have incorporated Transcultural Nursing knowledge into many classes that I have taught.
The highlight of my transcultural life story thus far has been my journey to Tanzania, East Africa in the Summer of 2012. It had been my lifelong dream to visit the continent of Africa, to the home of my ancestors. I spent much of my time there
learning the culture and lifeways of the people, practicing Swahili, and making lifelong friends.
Selected publications:
Shambley-Ebron, D., Dole, D., & Karikari, A. (2014). Cultural preparation for womanhood in urban African American girls:
Growing strong women. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. Online 6 May 2014. Doi: 10.1177/1043659614531792
Shambley-Ebron, D.Z. (2009). My sister, myself: Culture and health for Africana girls: Community action for HIV/AIDS prevention. Journal of Transcultural Nursing.20:28-36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659608325850
Shambley-Ebron, D.Z. & Boyle, J.S. (2006). In our grandmothers’ footsteps: Perceptions of being strong in African American women with HIV/AIDS. Advances in Nursing Science,29(3),195-206. https://doi.org/10.1097/00012272-200607000-00003
Shambley-Ebron, D.Z. & Boyle, J.S. (2005). Self-care and mothering in African American women with
HIV/AIDS. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 28(1), 42-60. DOI: 10.1177/0193945905282317
Book
Shambley-Ebron, D.Z. (2011). Rites of passage: Cultural paths for HIV/AIDS prevention in African American girls. In A.
Lemelle, W. Reed, & S. Taylor, Handbook of African American health: Social and behavioral
interventions. New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Thank you for this informative blog about the history, principles, and practices of Kwanzaa as well the connection of Kwanzaa to nursing and your work in Transcultural Nursing.