Kwanzaa is a nonreligious celebration of African heritage in African-American culture, usually observed for seven days beginning December 26 and culminating in gift-giving and a big feast.

Here, Charles Hargrett and Jo Ann Moton prepare a table setting for a Kwanzaa event at the at the Langston Hughes Center (known since 2013 as the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute). The table is set with symbolic objects: a candle holder (Kinara) holding candles (Mishumaa Saba) representing each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa; a straw mat (Mkeke) representing the foundation of tradition and history; ears of corn (Muhindi) representing children and the future; bananas, representing crops (Mazao) symbolic of the harvest; a unity cup (Kikombe cha Umoja); and gifts (Zawadi).

Caption information source: Acknowledgment of an African past helps build a future" by Joe Mooney, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 23, 1996, p. B1.
Caption information source: "The Symbols of Kwanzaa" from the Official Kwanzaa website, retrieved at https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/the-symbols.html