7 Books That Embody The Principles of Kwanzaa

By Ahtiya Liles

Created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa (which means “first fruit” in Swahili) is an ode to the beauty, endurance, and potential of Black Americans. It is a secular holiday, having no ties to any religion or spiritual practices, and takes place over the course of a week: December 26th – January 1st. One of the core elements of Kwanzaa is the Nguzo Saba, or the 7 Principles: Umojoa, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba, and Imani. Perhaps because of shared histories or our continuous resistance to oppression and erasure, the principles of Kwanzaa can be found in a wide breadth of modern Black literature. I’m sharing 7 books that embody one (and sometimes several) of the Nguzo Saba, and I encourage you to add these to your “must read” list this holiday season.

1. Umoja (Unity): Celebrated on the first day of Kwanzaa is Umoja, which focuses on the importance of unity in all areas (family, community, nation, and race). Jade Adia’s debut novel There Goes the Neighborhood is a shining example of Umoja. Faced with the looming threat of gentrification and the dissolution of their community, a group of teens are determined to steer developers’ eyes away in the only way they know how: create a fake gang using the power of social media to scare away gentrifiers. One of the standout features of There Goes the Neighborhood is the friend group at the core of the novel: this is a group of non-perfect teens that allow one another to grow and are determined not to see the community that raised them demolished.
2. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): With a history of Black people in America being treated poorly and as if we are less than human, being able to define oneself is one of the most powerful and empowering skills you can have. Just For the Cameras by Viano Oniomoh, while being quite the steamy polyamorous romance between a trio of best friends, is an excellent study on the power of defining oneself for oneself and how not being able to live your truth ultimately hinders your progress and impairs your happiness. All three main characters are stuck in situations or roles they no longer, and perhaps never, fit. Throughout Just For the Cameras, the protagonists begin to realize the freedom that emerges from seizing the power to determine yourself and your path.
3. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): Community consisting of more than just immediate family or blood relations is not unique to just Black people, but out building of our own communities and safe spaces in a White supremacist society that thrived on destroying our sense of family and togetherness since the very first slave boat left the shores of Africa is a particular act of resilience and resistance that is unique to Black people in the Americas. Eden Royce’s Conjure Island has the principle of Ujamaa at its center. With a specific focus on preserving one’s culture and history through collective storytelling, Conjure Island shows young raiders the value of cultural practices and the implicit understanding that everyone is responsible for the collective well-being of the community. Following a pre-teen girl sent to stay with the great-grandmother she never knew about after her grandmother falls ill, our protagonist Delphina not only learns about conjure and rootwork, but about how we are all responsible for creating spaces where we all three and evolve into our best selves.
4. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): Financial stability that helps not just one person or family, but helps to bolster the community is a theme found in Rhonda McKnight’s The Thing About Home. This novel is a contemplative and history-rich story about a successful social media influencer who’s been left at the altar and flees to her ancestral home in South Carolina’s Lowcountry where her family has maintained a lucrative farm for generations. Not only is the family well-known for their farm, but it’s pretty clear that this family business has been helping the local community for generations. In fact, being in the community and helping the community is a core part of her family’s belief system, and as the protagonist is there, she learns the beauty in not only having family, but lifting up the community that supports you in more ways than one.
5. Nia (Purpose): The principle of Nia is a principle focused on how we can connect our individual talents to helping our community in some way. In I Am Ayah: The Way Home by Donna Hill, we follow up-and-coming photographer Alessandra as she tries to discern what it is she’s meant to do in the aftermath of tragedy. Plagued with self-doubt and the fear of not being able to live up to her own expectations or the expectations of those in her field, Alessandra is able to realize that everyone’s purpose is of value to their community, no matter how unexciting or unorthodox their contribution may be.
6. Kuumba (Creativity): Perhaps the principle that has the most room for numerous interpretations, Kuumba is all about finding ways to leave our collective community better and more enhanced than we found it. In the new short story horror anthology edited by Jordan Peele entitled Out There Screaming, readers are taken on a myriad of journeys that span the entire breadth of what we call ‘horror’. This anthology is tantamount to creativity embodied because of how well it showcases not only the different types of horror, but also the different types of Black experiences in our society world. Everyone is able to see themselves in this collective work, and it’s that beauty that makes it a clear embodiment of Kuumba.
7. Imani (Faith): While some may associate the word ‘faith’ with religion, the principle of Imani is specifically a call to action to believe with all our hearts in not only our people, but in the righteousness and victory of our struggle as Black people. I interpret this to be two-fold: believing in both our people as a whole, but also believing in our own ability to overcome and move forward despite our past and by allowing others to let us lean on them if we need to. A second-chance romance about an estranged couple who are brought back into each other’s orbit when one of them wins the lottery, Play To Win by Jodie Slaughter is a poignant character study on how having faith in yourself is the only way to move forward and build healthy relationships. Both protagonists in this novel are grappling with the idea that they are inherently not good enough, and this lack of confidence spilled over into their relationship and led to their estrangement. When they are reconnected due to unconventional circumstances, they must reckon with the fact that neither of them have faith in themselves, let alone in the viability of a relationship, so how is it that they can make their relationship work? Having faith in oneself is the bare minimum to being able to build anything steady in one’s life, be in a community, business, relationship, or family, and Jodie Slaughter’s Play To Win highlights this beautifully.

If you’re interested in learning more about this Pan-African holiday that celebrates the beauty and resilience of Black people in the Americas, I encourage you to research Kwanzaa further. Hopefully this list has provided you with a stepping stone to engaging with more Black literature that highlights the breadth and expansiveness of the Black experience.

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