Make Your Own MKEKA for Kwanzaa

What is Kwanzaa? For those of you who do not know, Kwanzaa is a holiday created by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga in Dec back in 1966.

Kwanzaa is celebrated every year from Dec 26 to Jan 1, it first began being celebrated in America during the civil rights movement to help instill in African Americans a sense of who they are and of their heritage.

Although it is not a formal holiday millions of people of many different, races and ethnic groups celebrated it as their own holiday. What most people do know is that Kwanzaa is similar to several of our traditional holidays. During Kwanzaa, there is a large feast, which makes it like Thanksgiving, There are homemade gifts, which makes it like Christmas, and like New Years, vows are made in anticipation of the New Year. If you think about it there very similar.

A very important part of the Kwanzaa celebration is the MKEKA. The Mkeka which is pronounced mm-Kay-kah is a straw mat or "MKEKA" symbolizes the foundation of true knowledge and understanding are built. It also symbolizes the foundation which all else rest for self and generations to come.

The Mkeka in the simplest way to put is a form of weaving, where you thread strips of material into an interlaced pattern. The colors are usually red

It is customary to place special food or drink on the MKEKA . A MKEKA can be made from straw, cloth or paper we will be making them out of red, green, and black paper interlaced pattern. The black strips represents the color of the people.

The Mkeka which is pronounced mm-Kay-kah is a straw mat or "MKEKA" symbolizes the foundation of true knowledge and understanding, It also symbolizes the foundation which all else rest for self and generations to come.

To make your own inexpensive MKEKA you will need just a few basic items:

3 or 4 rectangular sheets of 12-x9-inch construction paper in different colors

Ruler

Pencil

Scissors

Glue

The instructions are fairly basic and simple.

The first thing you'll need to do is fold the black sheet in half make sure it's 6x9 inches in size.

Second - Cut slits in paper. Take ruler and place next to the fold. Using your pencil, mark along the fold every inch; make sure both sides are the same.

Third - draw lines joining the opposite pencil marks. Cut through both thicknesses of paper along the pencil lines from the fold to about 1 inch from the unfolded edges. Unfold the sheet and set aside.

Fourth - Make strips for weaving. Cut lengths of other sheets into 1-inch-wide strips that are 9 inches long.

Fifth - Weave strips through black paper. Take one of the strips and weave it in and out of the cuts you made in the black sheet of construction paper. Choose a strip of another color to weave in next. Continue weaving in strips, alternating colors.

Sixth - Secure ends of strips. You can either glue down ends to secure them or leave them as they are.

And that's it your done, the size can change depending on what you what but basically that's it. If you need more information her are a few websites that I found that might be useful.

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/kwanzaa/decorating/mkeka

http://www.lbcma.org.uk/festivals/Mkwanzaa3.asp