Applying Kwanzaa principles year-round helps our communities thrive

By TBHC Staff
​Published on Dec. 27, 2023

We must do better as a community when it comes to applying what we know.

The Kwanzaa principles are great but our effort to apply them 365 days of the year have been poor.

After the last principle have been celebrated, it is hard to hear back from most of the brothers and sisters you’ve met during the seven-day celebration to continue building throughout the year.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966. The holiday’s 60th anniversary is quickly approaching and we are still struggling as a people and haven’t made significant progress since its inception.

We must not only celebrate the principles but APPLY them in our lifestyle.

Who’s up for the challenge?

Read below to know how we have been neglecting the principles and learn how we can apply them for our benefit in the present and the future.

Umoja (Unity): Some of us still believe in multiculturalism and POC solidarity. Some of us fight harder for others than we do for ourselves. If you fit in this category, let’s shift our perspective to have a Pan-African mindset and focus on our issues and values FIRST.

Kujichagulia (Self-determination): Some of us lack the will to be great and better our communities. Some of us believe that we can’t be in control of our own destiny and give your power away to those who hate you. Stand up and fight! No excuses.

Ujima (Collective work and responsibility): Some of us avoid taking responsibility and accountability for our actions. We can’t grow without critique and action. Some of us are scared to make the sacrifices today for a better future tomorrow.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): Non-Black businesses have been getting richer by the hour due to our lack of cooperative economics. Our problems will be solved overnight if we pull our resources together and permanently boycott non-Black businesses.
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Nia (Purpose): Without vision and purpose, you are lost. Many of us are. With lack of self-knowledge comes with lack of purpose. We must know who we are to know where we are going.

Kuumba (Creativity): Through imagining a better world for the African Diaspora, we must have powerful and useful creativity to make a plan and execute it. Let’s start creating better cinema, books, and plays with our best interest in mind.

Imani (Faith): To complete any other principles, we must have faith that WE CAN do these things. The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey said, “If you don’t have confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you started.”
If you are a brother or a sister who apply the Kwanzaa principles 365 days of the year, you are a real one and we thank you.

The Black Hats Collective is a grassroots organization who practice the Kwanzaa principles 365 days of the year.

Let the community know that you practice these principles 24/7 by purchasing our Kwanzaa shirt.

Shop for the shirt HERE.

Each purchase helps us enrich our communities.
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