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Plate 1 A wrapped gift beside a book

Zawadi (the gifts)

Zawadi are the gifts of Kwanzaa, given mainly to children. The holiday’s guidance says they must always include a book and a heritage symbol, and its founder writes that they should never be overly expensive.

Kwanzaa symbols. Also called kwanzaa gifts, zawadi.

Meaning

Zawadi (za-WA-di) is Swahili for a present. Madan’s dictionary of 1903 defines it as a “present, gift, keepsake”, generally something given on a special occasion, such as setting out on a journey or coming home, and not the regular, expected gifts owed as fees. The official Kwanzaa website calls the gifts “symbolic of the labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children”. They are given mainly to children, and two things must be among them: a book, for “the African value and tradition of learning”, which the website traces back to ancient Egypt, and a heritage symbol, “to reaffirm and reinforce the African commitment to tradition and history”. Until they are given, Buffalo Toronto Public Media notes, they lie on the Mkeka (the mat) with the other symbols.

Origin and history

Maulana Karenga’s rules for the gifts are rules against shopping. In his 2024 column for the Los Angeles Sentinel he writes that they reward children “for commitments made and kept” and are “never to be overly expensive or a substitute for ourselves”. The official website warns that reducing children “to mere recipients of gifts” would copy “one of the most negative aspects of some Christmas celebrations”, and its questions and answers set what they call normal Ujamaa, the cooperative trade of artists and vendors who supply Kwanzaa materials, against the corporate world’s “move to penetrate and dominate the community Kwanzaa market”.

When the gifts are given

Accounts place the gifts at the end of the holiday, but not on the same day. Buffalo Toronto Public Media puts gift giving at the karamu, the feast of 31 December. The University of Michigan’s holiday fact sheet says “the final day climaxes with gift-giving”, and Frank Dobson, writing in 2017, has gifts shared on the last day.

See also

Muhindi (the corn), Kinara, Mishumaa saba (the seven candles), Kwanzaa colours (bendera), Mkeka (the mat), Mazao (the crops).

Sources

  1. The Symbols of Kwanzaa (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “The Symbols of Kwanzaa”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), Primary Symbols: Zawadi
  2. Greetings, Gifts, and Colors and Decorations (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “Greetings, Gifts, and Colors and Decorations”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), Gifts
  3. Symbols and Insights of Kwanzaa: Deep Meanings and Expansive Message (Maulana Karenga, Los Angeles Sentinel, 2024), Maulana Karenga, “Symbols and Insights of Kwanzaa: Deep Meanings and Expansive Message”, Los Angeles Sentinel, 4 December 2024, Los Angeles Sentinel, paragraph on the zawadi
  4. Kwanzaa for Children (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “Kwanzaa for Children”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), The Participation of Children
  5. Frequently Asked Questions About Kwanzaa (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “Frequently Asked Questions About Kwanzaa”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), Is Kwanzaa becoming commercialized?
  6. Swahili-English Dictionary (A. C. Madan, 1903), A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), Internet Archive (University of California Libraries scan), entry Zawadi
  7. What Kwanzaa means for Black Americans (Frank Dobson, The Conversation, via PBS NewsHour), Frank Dobson (Vanderbilt University), “What Kwanzaa means for Black Americans”, The Conversation, 20 December 2017; republished by PBS NewsHour, 30 December 2021, PBS NewsHour, paragraph on the seven principles
  8. Happy Kwanzaa! (University of Michigan holiday fact sheet), University of Michigan, Office of the Provost, holiday and cultural events fact sheet, edited 28 July 2021, University of Michigan, description
  9. HEAR: The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa (Buffalo Toronto Public Media, 2021), Buffalo Toronto Public Media (WNED/WBFO), “HEAR The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa”, What’s Next?, 29 December 2021, Buffalo Toronto Public Media, segments for 29 and 31 December
  10. What is Kwanzaa? (International African American Museum), International African American Museum, Charleston, “What is Kwanzaa?”, International African American Museum, Seven Symbols of Kwanzaa

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Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 8, 2026. How we research

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