Kwanzaa events in Central Florida

Kwanzaa, the weeklong celebration of African heritage and African-American culture, begins on Dec. 26.

The holiday runs until Jan. 1 and spans seven days, with each day focused on a particular moral, belief or value.

Each day, a candle is lit to highlight the principle of that day, with a celebration tailored to that day’s lesson.

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• Day 1: Umoja – Unity. To strive for and maintain unity within your family, community, nation and race.
• Day 2: Kujichagulia – Self-determination. To strive to define, name, create and speak for yourself.
• Day 3: Ujima – Collective work and responsibility. To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
• Day 4: Ujamaa – Cooperative economics. Uplift your community economically. To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
• Day 5: Nia – Nia means purpose. To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
• Day 6: Kuumba – Creativity. To do always as much as we can, in the way we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
• Day 7: Imani – Faith. To believe with all our heart in ourselves, our community, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Kwanzaa, first celebrated in 1966, is a time for families and the community to gather to remember the past and to celebrate African-American culture. Kwanzaa is not considered a substitute for Christmas, and many people celebrate both holidays.

Here are some Kwanzaa events happening in Central Florida:

ORLANDO

Dec. 21 from 6:30-11 p.m. at the Timucua Arts Foundation hear moving poetry and music from Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, as well as compelling contemporary choral works that reflect on this time of darkness, renewal, and the light to come.

For more information, click here.

WINTER PARK

Dec. 26 from 5-9 p.m. at the Equity Council Corp. is hosting its annual Kwanzaa Celebration at the Winter Park Community Center.

For more information, click here.

OCALA

Dec. 28 from 6-9 p.m. enjoy Kwanzaa On Da Move in Ocala at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place.

For more information, click here:

DELAND

Dec. 30 from noon until 4 p.m. the African American Museum of Arts is hosting a Kwanzaa Celebration.

For more information, click here.