About This Stamp
With this stamp design, the U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating Kwanzaa. The annual Pan-African holiday, which takes place over seven days from December 26 to January 1, brings family, community, and culture together for many African Americans.
The eighth Kwanzaa stamp design depicts the profile of a woman’s face with her eyes closed. Her contemplative demeanor signifies the ways in which observers of Kwanzaa reflect on the seven founding principles, the Nguzo Saba, and their role in everyday life. A kinara (candleholder) with the seven lit candles (mishumaa saba) sits in front of her. Cool tones evoke a sense of inner peace and vibrant design elements give the artwork a celebratory feel.
Created in 1966 during the height of the Black Freedom Movement, Kwanzaa was conceived as a unifying holiday in the face of struggles to end racial oppression in the United States. It draws on a variety of African traditions, deriving its name from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” meaning “first fruits.” With origins in ancient and modern first-harvest festivities occurring across the African continent, Kwanzaa incorporates and reimagines many of these communal traditions as a contemporary celebration and reaffirmation of African-American culture.
Today, millions of African Americans gather with friends and family throughout the week of Kwanzaa to honor the Nguzo Saba—Unity (Umoja), Self-Determination (Kujichagulia), Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima), Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa), Purpose (Nia), Creativity (Kuumba), and Faith (Imani).
Kwanzaa is a festive time for rejoicing in the prospect of health, prosperity, and good luck in the coming year. It is also a time for contemplation and recollection of past hardships, faced by both individuals and communities, and the ways in which history can inform and impact future happiness.
Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp with original artwork by Andrea Pippins.
The Kwanzaa stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in panes of 20. This Forever stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Antonio Alcalá
Antonio Alcalá served on the Postmaster General’s Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 2010 until 2011, when he left to become an art director for the U.S. Postal Service's stamp development program.
He is founder and co-owner of Studio A, a design practice working with museums and arts institutions. His clients include: the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Phillips Collection, and Smithsonian Institution. He also lectures at colleges including the Corcoran College of Art + Design, SVA, Pratt, and MICA.
In 2008, his work and contributions to the field of graphic design were recognized with his selection as an AIGA Fellow. He has judged international competitions for the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, AIGA, and Graphis. Alcalá also serves on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Poster House Museum’s advisory councils. His designs are represented in the AIGA Design Archives, the National Postal Museum, and the Library of Congress Permanent Collection of Graphic Design.
Alcalá graduated from Yale University with a BA in history and from the Yale School of Art with an MFA in graphic design. He lives with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia.
Stamp Artist
Andrea Pippins
Bowie, Maryland, native Andrea Pippins studied at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, where she earned a B.F.A. in graphic design. She began her career as a graphic designer working for Hallmark Cards before transitioning to illustration work for cable television networks.
After earning her M.F.A. at Temple, Pippins taught graphic design at both Stevenson University and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Since then, she has been working as an illustrator on projects for clients, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Bloomberg, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Pippins has also authored and illustrated several books, among them are I Love My Hair, a coloring book celebrating a variety of hairstyles and textures; Becoming Me, an interactive journal for young women to nurture their creativity; and We Inspire Me, a collection of essays and ideas to inspire the cultivation of a creative community.
With a celebratory and bold visual style that utilizes vivid color, Pippins uses her work to propel her mission of empowering women and girls through creative expression.
When she’s not working, Pippins enjoys writing, cooking, dancing Samba, and drawing and painting with her son. She currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Kwanzaa (2020) is her first project for the Postal Service.