The holiday season will be here before you know it, and for some families, that means it's time to start preparing for Kwanzaa. For those who aren't familiar with the history of Kwanzaa, it is a week-long holiday celebrating African-American culture. Kwanzaa was created by American professor Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, following the Watts Riots of 1965. And whether you're celebrating or know someone who is, these best Kwanzaa quotes will help demonstrate why the annual celebration is so meaningful to so many.

Just like with any holiday, Kwanzaa is associated with a number of important traditions, including the lighting of the kinara (where each candle represents a different principle of the Nguzo Saba, or the Seven Principles) and enjoy a Feast of Faith, called a Karamu Ya Imani. These important quotes about Kwanzaa — which come from poets, professors, and politicians, among others — can provide additional insight into the holiday. Make the week-long celebration even more special with these wise words explaining the beauty of Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa Quotes and Wishes

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  • "I don't think there will ever be a time when the principles of Kwanzaa will not be important or timely. It's a great time for reflection and now more than ever our country needs to be reminded of unity." — Kellie Carter Jackson
  • "For families across the country, today marks the beginning of a joyous time to reflect on the rich African-American culture and to remember the principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith—principles that reflect our most cherished values as Americans." — Barack Obama
  • "Kwanzaa offers a new dialogue on Black culture, about our positive contributions to the world, and not just the negative stigma of race." — Dr. Adam Clark
  • "Kwanzaa beckons us to the heights of our humanity, petitioning us to imagine ourselves and our communities in ways white American culture cannot and will not." — Chanté Griffin
  • "The holiday reflects the best of African thought and practice in its reaffirmation of the dignity of the human person in community and culture, the well-being of family and community, the integrity of the environment and our kinship with it, and the rich resource and meaning of a people's culture." — Dr. Maulana Karenga

    Insightful Kwanzaa Quotes and Sayings

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    • "Kwanzaa is a pan-African celebration of heritage and culture and family and community. The principles and the manner of observing the holiday lift up traditional values that are key to our lives." — Janine Bell
    • "Kwanzaa affirms that mothers and fathers of previous generations transmitted African Americans' existence and persistence to the mothers and fathers of today. Pass it on." — Dorothy Winbush Riley
    • "Our children need a sense of specialness that comes from participating in a known and loved ritual. They need the mastery of self-discipline that comes from order. They need the self-awareness that comes from a knowledge of their past. They need Kwanzaa as a tool for building their future and our own." — Jessica B. Harris
    • "We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color." — Maya Angelou
    • "Kwanzaa does not replace Christmas and is not a religious holiday. It is a time to focus on Africa and African-inspired culture and to reinforce a value system that goes back for generations." — Eric V. Copage

    Short Kwanzaa Quotes

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    • "Kwanzaa is a special time to remember the ancestors, the bridge builders, and the leaders." — Dorothy Winbush Riley
    • "We will never know ourselves if we do not know our history." — Dr. Maulana Karenga
    • "Kwanzaa is a holiday that should be celebrated by everyone, not just the Black community." — Jacqui Lewis
    • "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." — Muhammad Ali
    • "We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond." — Gwendolyn Brooks

      Inspirational Kwanzaa Quotes

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      • "I see Kwanzaa as an opportunity for African Americans to reaffirm ourselves if we choose to, a chance to rebuild and renew our focus. I see Kwanzaa as a holiday of the spirit." — Jessica B. Harris
      • "We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves." — Langston Hughes
      • "For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place." — Maya Angelou
      • "In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress." — Booker T. Washington
      • "It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world." — Kwame Nkrumah
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