Twitter Messed Up Its Kwanzaa Hashtag, And People Didn't Let It Off Easy
Twitter tried to shine a spotlight Thursday on the first day of Kwanzaa, a holiday that celebrates Black heritage and is often overlooked by the mainstream media, but the company came up short by two candles.
Kwanzaa’s colors ― red, black and green ― and the seven candles in a candle holder known as a Kinara are part of the holiday’s centerpieces.
The hashtag Twitter was using to celebrate Kwanzaa included a custom emoji of a Kinara with five candles, instead of the seven that are supposed to represent the holiday’s Seven Principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Some people also noticed that the emoji used a blue candle instead of a black one.
Wait. The #Kwanzaa is wrong.
There are seven principles. 🙄— 🥚 (@CharleneCac) December 26, 2019
And no blue candle
— Macaulay Vulcan (@xoDrVenture) December 26, 2019
@twitter, the kinara has 7 candles, not 5. #Kwanzaa
— jenifer daniels 🥧 (@jentrification) December 26, 2019
In a company statement to HuffPost, Twitter explained: “This was an error. We have now corrected and uploaded a new emoji that is a more accurate rendering of the Kinara. Just a note that it may take a few hours for the change to appear live on all devices globally.”
Starting Dec. 26, Kwanzaa takes place over seven days. The holiday was created in 1966 by U.S. scholar Maulana Karenga, the chair of Africana studies at California State University, Long Beach, to promote unity among Black people in the U.S. and the greater African diaspora. While its roots are in the U.S., the seven-day celebration is now observed in other countries, including some in Africa.
One Twitter user who was disappointed with the social media giant’s incorrect Kwanzaa symbols wondered if the company had researched the holiday before promoting it.
Others called on the company to correct its Kinara emoji.
@Twitter the #Kwanzaa candles are WRONG. 1-there should be 7: that's 3 red on one side, 3 green on the other side, and 1 black in the center.
Why is there even a blue candle? Do y'all not have folks do research beforehand?— Nadroj Holmes (@NadrojHolmes) December 26, 2019
Happy Kwanzaa to all my followers who celebrate throughout the diaspora!
And maybe twitter can run over there and add the right number of candles to #Kwanzaa... I'm sure there is room...— Sarah Tuttle (@niais) December 26, 2019
Despite the incorrect Kinara in its holiday messaging, Twitter highlighted all of the Seven Principles on its other company Twitter accounts.
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#HappyKwanzaa
This is a time of honoring African Americans' ancestral roots. Today (#Umoja) is all about striving for and maintaining unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Day 1 is followed by:
Kujichagulia
Ujima
Ujamaa
Nia
Kuumba
Imanipic.twitter.com/8skI0A2wD4— Twitter Blackbirds (@Blackbirds) December 26, 2019
Today is the beginning of Kwanzaa! The first day is Umojia which means unity. Each day focuses on a different principle as each candle burns on the kinara:
Unity
Self-Determination
Collective Work and Responsibility
Cooperative Economics
Purpose
Creativity
Faith.#HappyKwanzaa pic.twitter.com/BiTIDSEaqK— Twitter Together (@TwitterTogether) December 26, 2019
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.