NGUZO SABA (n-GU-zo SAH-bah) THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES
Umoja (oo-MO-jah): Unity – Ephesians 4:2, 4.4, 4:13 and Psalms 133:1
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-GOO-lee-ah): Self-Determination -1 Peter 2:5, 2:9
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (oo-JEE-mah): Collective Work and Responsibility – Genesis 4:9
To build and maintain our community together, make our sisters’ and brothers’ problems our problems, and solve them together.
Ujamaa (oo-jah-MAH-ah): Cooperative Economics – Acts 2:44, 2:45
To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (NEE-ah): Purpose – Psalms 20:4, Romans 5:10, 8:28 & 2 Corinthians 9:7
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah): Creativity – Luke 12:48, James 1:22-25 and Galatians 5:22-25
To always do as much as we can, in the way we can, to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (ee-MAH-nee): Faith – Matthew 22:39 and Hebrews 11:1
To believe with all our hearts in our God, people, parents, teachers, leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
As members of the St. Veronica Kwanzaa Ministry, we are proud to uphold and embody the principles of Kwanzaa both in our religious and secular lives. We celebrate our Catholic faith as a testament to our belief (Imani). We are dedicated to being creative (Kuumba) and collaborative (Ujamaa) in our work on various committees within our parish community to help build wealth and foster a stronger faith community (Ujima, Nia). We do all of this out of a deep love and commitment to our church (Umoja, Nia, and Kujichagulia).