In “Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture” Maulana Karenga (the creator of Kwanzaa) describes self-determination (kujichagulia) as “a right and responsibility to exist as a people and make our own unique contribution to the forward flow of human history”.

Karenga states that self-determination (kujichagulia) is rooted in afrocentricity and the cultural image and human interests of African people.

The word “afrocentricity” often raises many different and conflicting thoughts and feelings among people.

The author makes his meaning clear in stating that, “Afrocentricity does not seek to deny or deform others’ history and humanity, but to affirm, rescue and reconstruct its own after the Holocaust of Enslavement and various other forms of is the quest to answer the question “Who am I” from the perspectives of culture and history.

Reference:  “Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture”, by Maulana Karenga,   University of Sankore Press, Los Angeles, California.