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The sounds of drums and the gathering of community opened a week-long Kwanzaa celebration at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis on Thursday. 

Kwanzaa celebrates Pan-African and African American culture and history. The annual festival runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.  

 is hosting a celebration daily at the market through Dec. 31. 

“Kwanzaa is the ‘first fruit.’ That’s the word, that’s what it means,” said Atum Azzahir, who founded the Cultural Wellness Center 29 years ago. She said Kwanzaa provides a space to celebrate oneself and others, promoting community and cultural recovery. 

“We have to be in front of our own healing,” Azzahir said. “We cannot stand in the background and wait to be healed.”  

The celebration of Kwanzaa began in the 1960s, created by Maulana Karenga, an activist and academic. It lasts seven days, giving each day a specific focus and meaning. 

The principles, in the Swahili language, include Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).

Ebony Aya is an author and the owner of Aya Collective, a space that brings Black women together to write and inspire. She was in attendance on the first day of the Kwanzaa celebration at the market.

“Kwanzaa is about remembering our grandmothers and our ancestors before it’s too late, before we forget the fact that they’ve done all of these amazing things,” Aya said.  

As a writer, Aya expressed the importance of having history and heritage written down for younger and future generations. Azzahir shared similar sentiments. 

“We see ourselves as having been in existence for much longer than enslavement took place,” Azzahir said. “We want to go back to what was in the beginning, and how do we now bring that forward so we can look at what is going to be in the future.” 

A daily Kwanzaa celebration will be held at Midtown Global Market from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through next Tuesday. The event is free and open to the public. More information can be found on the 

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Chandra Colvin

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The sounds of drums and the gathering of community opened a week-long Kwanzaa celebration at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis on Thursday. 


Kwanzaa celebration underway at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis

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