Kwanzaa was created out of the philosophy of Kawaida, which is a cultural nationalist philosophy that argues that the key challenge in Black peoples’ lives is the challenge of culture and that what Africans must do is to discover and bring forth the best of their culture, both ancient and current, and use it as a foundation to bring into being models of human excellence and possibilities to enrich and expand our lives.
The George Moses Horton Library, then the only public library in the city open to Black residents, started in old Patterson Avenue YMCA and operated until 1954.