Honoring Eoin's African American Heritage

We have always wanted to make sure that Eoin's African American heritage was part of his life and so we have been thinking about ways of incorporating it into our everyday life (apart from keeping him up to see Obama win the election). So we have decided to start a new family tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 and is a celebration of african heritage and lasts for seven days starting on 26 December. It is now celebrated across the world. The African celebration of Kwanzaa was a ceremony of appreciation for the "first fruits of harvest". The four elements that made up the original African meaning of Kwanzaa were unity, awareness of ancestry and heritage, recommitment to traditional values, and reverence for creator and the creation.
Gifts are given mainly to children, but must always include a book and a heritage symbol. The book is to emphasize the African value and tradition of learning stressed since ancient Egypt, and the heritage symbol to reaffirm and reinforce the African commitment to tradition and history.
We think that we are going to pick one day during the seven day Kwanzaa celebration and use it to celebrate Eoin's heritage as well as a time for us all to learn more about African traditions and way of life.