Holiday principles, competition spurn student community action

Umoja, kujichagulia, ujima, ujamaa, nia, kuumba and imani — these are the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Through the month of November, members of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center will work to spread the spirit of the holiday through a contest, titled “Kwanzaa in Action,” to challenge teams of students to apply the principles in a way that can help the community.

“The teams choose one of them, and they put that into some kind of initiative, action or program,” Neal-Marshall graduate assistant Muhammad Saahir said. “Though they have to choose just one principle, there is no limit to what they can do with it.”

Students can pick from any of the principles, Saahir said, all of which have very different meanings.

Umoja means to strive for unity in family, community, race and nation, while kujichaguila means self-determination. Ujima is about making a community and making someone else’s problems your own.

Ujamaa represents cooperative economics, Nia means purpose and kuumba means creativity. Imani, the seventh and final principle, is faith.

Junior Kelemwork Tariku’s team, which represents the Hutton Honors College, chose to try to put ujima into action during the contest.

“Ujima is about collective responsibility and community,” Tariku said. “So we are working with Habitat for Humanity, which builds simple, affordable houses for families that have a lack of shelter.”

Tariku said working with Habitat for Humanity also falls in line with what Kwanzaa, as a whole, is all about.

“Kwanzaa means first fruit of the harvest,” she said. “So it makes sense to be planting these new seeds in the community.”

At the center’s Pre-Kwanzaa celebration on Dec. 1, Tariku and the other students will present their projects to a panel of judges, and the winning team will receive $500. So far, three teams have officially registered for “Kwanzaa in Action,” but Saahir encourages other students to give the program a chance.

“The best thing that can happen is you win $500,” Saahir said. “The worst thing, the absolute worst, is that you help somebody out or you help yourself.”

To join the competition, pick up an application at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center in room A226.

— Jake New