(WXYZ) — The fourth annual lighting of the Motor City Kwanzaa Kinara will take place on Friday night in Downtown Detroit.
Kwanzaa, which is celebrated Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, honors the communities, culture and heritage of African Americans, and the Kinara's candles are designed to illuminite each of the seven days of Kwanzaa until the full Kinara is lit.
The Kwanzaa Kinara program will begin in Cadillac Square with African drummers, dancers and special tributes. The program starts at 4 p.m. and the Unity candle lighting will be at sunset.
Detroit City Councilman Scott Benson reached out four years ago about ways to build a structure to celebrate Kwanzaa in Detroit.
The Motor City Kwanzaa Kinara is now the world's tallest kinara of any kind and is more than 30 feet tall.
"At a time when institutions around the U.S. are backing away from celebrating diversity, we warmly embrace it in Detroit,” Benson said in a statement. “Kwanzaa is an especially important time to celebrate our diversity, as well as our collective strength, our culture, and our ancestors. I wish all Detroiters a happy and joyous Kwanzaa.”
Below are the seven days of Kwanzaa.
Day 1 - Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Day 2 - Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
Day 3 - Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems, and to solve them together.
Day 4 - Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Day 5 - Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Day 6 - Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Day 7 - Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
