St. Paul, Minn. ? Kwanzaa, the seven-day cultural celebration for people of African descent that began Monday, has come a long way since California activists created it nearly 40 years ago in the aftermath of the Watts riots in Los Angeles.

“Like most holidays, Kwanzaa is now part of the American landscape,” said Bill Jeter, a Twin Cities artist and teacher.

Indeed, Kwanzaa is so mainstream that it has been featured on a U.S. postage stamp. Counselors use its “Nguzo Saba” – Swahili for “Seven Principles” – in treatment programs, and Kwanzaa “rite of passage” programs for young girls are fairly common.

In short, two generations of blacks have grown up with Kwanzaa as a familiar part of their cultural and social lives.

“You can go to Target and buy something for Kwanzaa,” Jeter said, suggesting that you can’t get much more mainstream than that.

Black residents of South Los Angeles drum and dance Monday to mark the first day of Kwanzaa, a seven-day festival created in 1966, in Los Angeles.

Even so, Kwanzaa remains a celebration particularly fashioned for quiet contemplation by black families and small black communities, said Mahmoud El-Kati, a retired Macalester College history professor.

Many people, El-Kati said, observe Kwanzaa in the home, gathering daily to light a candle and discuss the principle of the day.

“Culture and community are the themes, and the emphasis is on children, teaching them fundamental lessons,” El-Kati said. “The thing to remember is that Kwanzaa is not religious, not competing with Christmas, not heroic, not commercial.”

It’s also not centrally organized, though the California Web site, www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org, established by its principal founder, Maulana Karenga, offers suggestions for observing the seven principles that correspond to the seven days of the celebration.