The Kwanzaa Bonanza : African-Inspired Festival Is Good for Business

Christmas and Hanukkah observances have ended. However, some Americans are still buying ceremonial candles, ordering food for special feasts, acquiring seasonal clothing and purchasing special gifts for loved ones.

And that’s good news for entrepreneurs who sell or make products used in the observance of Kwanzaa, a year-end celebration that evokes African culture for Americans of African descent.

Indeed, many merchants say the holiday--spawned in the mid-1960s and celebrated annually between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1--is resurgent in Southern California, and sales are rising for items used to commemorate it.

“Business was good during Kwanzaa last year, but it’s great--much better--this year,” said Larry Weathers, owner of A Touch of Class, a Los Angeles-based silk-screen operation that produces T-shirts and sweat shirts commemorating Kwanzaa. “There’s more interest because blacks now have more community awareness and are more conscious of the need for a positive cultural experience because of the (spring) riots.”

Kwanzaa, based on traditional African harvest celebrations, is designed to celebrate a heritage and promote a bonding among people of African descent. Kwanzaa is a Swahili word meaning “first.”

Central to the holiday are seven principles--unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Local merchants who cater to Kwanzaa observers also benefit from the principle known as ujamaa , which is the Swahili word for a cooperative economics concept that encourages African-Americans to invest in their communities and support black entrepreneurship.

“I like the festive part of the holiday,” said Shaka Camara, owner of Bak-Tu-Jua, a Leimert Park shop that sells African imports, jewelry, clothing and art, “but as a merchant I also have to appreciate the business it generates.”

Camara said his shop sells a lot of items popular with Kwanzaa observers, such as an elaborate candelabra known as kinara , imported traditional African clothing and Afrocentric jewelry and calendars.

Other merchants in Leimert Park Village--an area bounded by 43rd Place, 43rd Street, Crenshaw and Leimert Park boulevards--are also buoyed by the annual business that comes with Kwanzaa. Many of these businesses operate in a commercial district along Leimert Park’s Degnan Boulevard, an area anchored by Marla Gibbs’ Crossroads Arts Academy and Theater.

A Kwanzaa festival--with outdoor food booths, music, African dance, poetry readings and other performances--was held Saturday and Sunday along this section of Degnan, attracting thousands of people, merchants in the area said.

“At times last Saturday, it was so crowded you couldn’t get any more people into the shop,” Camara said. “The response has been wonderful this year.”

Purveyors of Kwanzaa-related material can be found throughout the Southland. Spike’s Joint West, a Melrose Boulevard store owned by filmmaker Spike Lee, sells earrings bearing the word “Kwanzaa.” The jewelry is produced by designer Gail Jennings, owner of an enterprise called Film at 11:00.

Also, a number of bookstores carry titles on the observance, such as “Habari Gani? What’s the News? A Kwanzaa Story,” by Sundaira Morninghouse, and “My First Kwanzaa Book,” by Deborah M. Newton Chocolate.

And more specialty shops cater to Kwanzaa observers. Jacqueline Gray of Irvine recently bought a kit that included seven ceremonial candles--representing the seven Kwanzaa principles--at Images, a Santa Ana shop that sells gift items of special interest to African-Americans.

“The importance of (Kwanzaa) is to allow my children to have a cultural identity so they can have an understanding of what it means to be an African-American,” Gray said.

Apparel sales is one of the fastest-growing segments of Kwanzaa-related commerce. Some clothing merchants, such as Lena Cole Dennis of Los Angeles, import traditional African garments. Dennis, who operates an enterprise called African Soup from her home, said sales of her slippers and robes rose late this year because more Angelenos are observing Kwanzaa by exchanging gifts.

“People like African clothing because of the bright colors in the weaves,” Dennis said. “Interest is growing because of Kwanzaa and--because there’s more news reports from Africa--people are more conscious of the continent and they’re trying to identify with African culture.”

Some sellers of Afrocentric clothing are also designers. Roni Walter offers a line of clothing, known as Happi Nappi wear, that blends Western and African styling and includes blue jeans made partly from African Kinte cloth, a patterned cotton print. Her clothing is sold at boutiques in Hollywood and along Melrose Boulevard.

“Sales are growing because more blacks are trying to reclaim African culture, and Kwanzaa is an opportunity to exhibit that interest,” Walter said.

Ahneva Ahneva, owner of Designers Network International in Leimert Park Village, said Kwanzaa-related sales at her shop are up 30%. Her prices range from $40 for African-style head wear known as crowns to $4,500 for a full-length, handwoven Kinte cloth gown.

Ahneva recently held an open-house Kwanzaa celebration at her shop--providing food and a forum for a lecture on Kwanzaa.

Even merchants selling items that are not traditionally associated with Africa are benefiting from the Kwanzaa commercial boom. Kamau Daaood, owner of a Leimert Park Village record shop called Final Vinyl, said customer traffic at his business tripled last weekend during the Kwanzaa festival.

“Music is spiritual food that helps create a good mood for people celebrating Kwanzaa,” Daaood said.

Times staff writer Chris Woodyard contributed to this report.

Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Life

Kwanzaa, a cultural holiday based on traditional African harvest celebrations, is observed Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Based on year-end observances that honor the life-giving elements of nature, Kwanzaa has been promoted as a holiday designed to reaffirm the bonds between people of African descent.

The observance was developed in the mid-1960s by Maulana Kerenga, chairman of the department of black studies at Cal State Long Beach. Merchants selling products related to Kwanzaa--such as candleholders and traditional African clothing--say there is growing interest in the observance in Southern California.

Kwanzaa is a Swahili word meaning “first.” The seven principles of Kwanzaa--in English and Swahili--are unity ( umoja ), self-determination ( kujichagulia ), collective work and responsibility ( ujima ), cooperative economics ( ujamaa ), purpose ( nia ), creativity ( kuumba ) and faith ( imani ).