Maya Angelou’s Kwanzaa Documentary
December 25th, 2009 | By Safiyyah
Kwanzaa is an African American celebration that takes place each year, on the day after Christmas. Maya Angelou created a documentary called “The Black Candle”. Just like during Hanukkah, families that celebrate Kwanzaa light 7 candles and celebrate the holiday for 7 days, each day lighting one of the candles. There are three red candles, three green candles and one black candle in the middle. The movie Maya Angelou created talks about Kwanzaa and the people of Kwanzaa, as far as where they were, are and going.
About 20 million people celebrate Kwanzaa around the world each year, including in countries like France, Canada, South Africa and Jamaica. Two of the main misconceptions about the holiday is that it has religious origins or that it is an alternative to X-mas, but various black churches and temples did play a role in the growth of Kwanzaa. Hip hop also played a role in the growth of Kwanzaa, during the 80s and 90s. Plus, during the making of Maya Angelou’s film, she received a lot of support from the hip hop community, including from Dead Prez and Chuck D. Dead Prez talked about learning about Kwanzaa from hip hop and Chuck D discussed how hip hop made them culturally aware and educated them. Many people think that Kwanzaa is only for and celebrated by Blacks, but people of all races partake in the celebration each year. If you would like to learn more about Kwanzaa, you should definitely check out the film by Maya Angelou, The Black Candle.
