DIY Kwanzaa: how one woman made the holiday her own

Kathryn O'Neal attended her first Kwanzaa celebration when she was in college and it made a strong impression. 

"It was great... There were a lot of people, people that I probably normally wouldn't have been at a party with. The football team was there. It was a big cross-section of the students of colour. People read poetry and I remember one girl read a poem about black women's hair and different hairstyles. And somebody read a Maya Angelou poem."

O'Neal was so moved by the gathering that when she became a mother a few years later, she decided to make Kwanzaa a new family tradition. She saw it as a way to enrich her son's life.

Kwanzaa is a cultural celebration honouring African heritage that runs from December 26  to January 1 each year. It is a time where friends and families gather together to reflect on the seven principles of Nguzo Saba:

• Umoja =  Unity
• Kujichagulia =  Self-Determination
• Ujima =  Collective Work and Responsiblity
• Ujamaa = Cooperative Economics
• Nia = Purpose
• Kuumba = Creativity
• Imani = Faith

A candle is lit each day in a kinara, which is a candle holder with seven candles (three red, three green and one black). Families decorate their homes with symbols of Kwanzaa, such as woven mats, corn, fresh fruit, and a unity cup.  

Now in its 50th year, Kwanzaa's roots lie in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s. It was created to help people of the African diaspora reconnect with their heritage.

Kathryn O'Neal developed her own way of celebrating Kwanzaa. She would invite friends and neighbours from her community, whether they were African-American or not, and encouraged everyone to participate and reflect on how the day's principle -- be it faith, self-determination or creativity -- had played a role in their own lives.

"We're talking about wonderful things -- the way that African-Americans have gone through the years through faith, through purpose, through their creativity… Not only was my son hearing it and learning it and having it reinforced, but there were other people around that were also listening to it and that's affirming."

Click LISTEN to hear Kathryn O'Neal tell the story of her on again, off again, on again relationship with Kwanzaa -- and how she's made it her own.