How to celebrate Nia on Day 5 of Kwanzaa

TheGrio breaks down how to celebrate day five of the Kwanzaa holiday

Dec 30, 2021

On December 30th, which marks day five of Kwanzaa, we light the second green candle to the right of the black candle. This candle represents the principle of Nia, or purpose.

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Pledge: On this day, we pledge to make our collective vocation the building and development of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kwanzaa Celebrated At Natural History Museum In New York CIty — As seven Kwanzaa candles burn, Malaiyka Reid of Brooklyn, New York reads a poem titled “Ego Trippin’ during a Kwanzaa celebration Dec. 27, 2003 at The Museum of Natural History in New York CIty. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

In March 2020, life as we knew it came to an abrupt halt, and the United States entered a full lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, people have lost loved ones and jobs. Whole industries have been dismantled, and mental health issues have been on the rise as people struggle to find purpose in this new normal. For some, this period has actually propelled them further into their purpose.

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Some ways to practice Nia include reflecting how you find purpose in life outside of your career, reading books and watching movies that that educate you about your ancestry and your history, and setting short term and long term goals that will set you and your community on a path towards a more intentional and purpose-driven life.