Kwanzaa is a modern African-American cultural festival celebrated during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. The celebration emphasizes the importance of African-American cultural heritage in both individual achievements and the unity of the black family. Both Christmas and Kwanzaa are celebrated at the historic Herndon home in Atlanta, Georgia. Built in 1910 by black craftsmen, the Herndon home is a lasting tribute to the family of Alonzo Herndon, the founder and former president of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. Born a slave, Herndon was the wealthiest black man in Atlanta by the turn of the century. In the reception hall of the Herndon home, a Christmas tree decorated with African and American symbols is both playful and serious, celebrating the omnipotence of God and the joy of the season. Golden masks represent African ancestors and West African adinkra symbols represent culturally positive ideals such as humility, strength and wisdom (figure A). On a buffet in the dining room the seven tribes of mankind are represented by a seven-tiered candleholder called a kinara. Candles of red, green and black, the signature colors of Kwanzaa, symbolize the suffering of the African-American people and their movement out of that suffering and strife into better times.
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