USPS to issue 16th Kwanzaa stamp Sept. 25 in Pittsburgh

By Charles Snee

African-American community and unity will be on vibrant display when the United States Postal Service issues its 2024 Kwanzaa stamp.

The first-day ceremony for the nondenominated (73¢) Kwanzaa forever special stamp will take place Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time at the Sen. John Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St., in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Roderick Sallay, director of legislative policy and strategic development for the U.S. Postal Service, will act as the dedicating official.

The ceremony is free and open to the public. Those desiring to attend are encouraged to register online with the USPS. According to the Postal Service, each attendee may invite up to a maximum of four guests.

Kwanzaa marks a “festive time for rejoicing in the prospect of health, prosperity and good luck in the coming year,” the Postal Service said in an Aug. 26 media advisory announcing the first-day ceremony. “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 affect future happiness.”

Ekua Holmes’ original artwork featured on the stamp depicts a male drummer and two female dancers.

According to the Postal Service, Holmes created the dynamic scene after being inspired by a live performance during a Kwanzaa event she attended.

Holmes’ website states her work “is collage based and her subjects, made from cut and torn papers, investigate family histories, relationship dynamics, childhood impressions, the power of hope, faith, and self-determination.”

An exhibition of her art, titled “Paper Stories, Layered Dreams,” was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Mass., July 17, 2021, through Jan. 24, 2022.

The exhibition centered “on her award-winning children’s book illustrations — vibrant collages revealing stories of self-determination, love, and community that reflect the artist’s distinctive vision and commitment to Black imagery and representation,” the museum said.

Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. of Williamsville, N.Y., printed the stamps using offset lithography on its Mueller A76 press. Microprinting (most likely “USPS”) will appear somewhere in the design.

Technical details published in the Aug. 22 issue of the Postal Bulletin indicate that the Postal Service ordered a print run of 12 million new Kwanzaa stamps in 600,000 panes of 20. The panes were processed from press sheets of 16 panes each.

A plate number consisting of a “P” followed by four single digits appears in the four corners of the pane, which does not feature a decorative selvage header.

The letter prefix is shorthand for the printer, and each digit represents one of the four process colors used to print the stamp: black, cyan, magenta and yellow.

This year’s Kwanzaa stamp is the 16th in a series that began in 1997. Details of these stamps are presented in the table on page 8.

Postal Service art director Ethel Kessler designed the new Kwanzaa stamp using Holmes’ original artwork.

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