kwanzaa is a non-religious african-american festival which synthesizes and reinvents traditional african "first fruits" celebrations. the u.s. postal service issued the first 32 cent stamp designed by self-taught artist synthia saint james for kwanzaa on october 22, 1997. this design was revalued three times to 33-cent, 34-cent and 37-cent in 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively. a total of 133 million kwanzaa stamps were produced in 1997. a second kwanzaa stamp, a 37-cent self-adhesive value, was introduced on october 16, 2004 with a new design by daniel minter that was intended to convey "balanced formality with a celebratory, festive mood." this stamp has been reissued; the 2006 was 39 cents, the 2007 value was 41 cents, the 2008 was 42 cents.