Tonight, is the first night of Kwanzaa, celebrating the principle of Umoja or Unity.

Meaning to maintain unity within your family, community, and race.

Kwanzaa, meaning first harvest in Swahili, is not a religious holiday, but a cultural holiday to celebrate the African and Pan-African communities.

Kwanzaa is the holiday the proceeds Christmas on December 26th and goes on until January 1st.

The cultural holiday started in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga as a way to help the African-American community to connect back to their heritage and culture.

This holiday last for 7 days and each day represents the 7 different principles. Similar to Hanukkah they use a candle holder called a kinara, to celebrate the seven days. The kinara, has three colors red, black, and green.

Each is lit individually on each day to represent each of the seven principles.

The first three red candles represent the blood of the people and their culture. The one in the middle is a black candle that represents the people the holiday celebrates. Lastly, the three green candles represent the earth and the hard work bringing this back to the roots of this holiday having to do with harvest.