My first rememberance of Kwanzaa came while I was working at Walgreens in, I believe, Omaha. We sold Kwanzaa cards.
If you have kids in US elementary schools, they are probably talking about Kwanzaa in their classes. Do you know the history of Kwanzaa? If you were born before 1966, then you are older than Kwanzaa.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966. After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, Dr. Karenga searched for ways to bring African-Americans together as a community. He founded US, a cultural organization, and started to research African "first fruit" (harvest) celebrations. Karenga combined aspects of several different harvest celebrations, such as those of the Ashanti and those of the Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa.