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Tuesday, 02 January 2007 14:11 |
By JIM GENARO
Festive drumming, dancing, storytelling, food and contemplation were highlights of a Kwanzaa celebration held last Saturday afternoon at the YMI Cultural Center.
About 100 people attended the event to mark the African-American and Pan-African holiday, which has been celebrated for the past 40 years.
The festivities were led by The Healing Force, a Winston-Salem-based troupe of drummers and dancers that specializes in Kwanzaa celebrations.
Kwanzaa,
which was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor of Black
Studies at California State University in Long Beach, Calif., honors
seven traditional African principles, each of which is celebrated on a
different day, starting on Dec. 26. The holiday concluded this past
Monday.
It takes its
name from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first
fruits." Though it is a relatively new holiday, Kwanzaa has roots in
many traditional "first-fruit" festivals that were celebrated
throughout Africa as far back as ancient Egypt, according to the
official Kwanzaa Web site.
The seven
principles of Kwanzaa are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia
(self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility),
Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and
Imani (faith).
One of the
traditional symbols of Kwanzaa is the lighting of the Kinara, which
like the Jewish Menorah, is a seven-branched candelabrum that holds one
candle for each day and principle of the holiday.
The candles ǃÓ
three green, three red and a black one in the center ÇƒÓ are lighted
daily, as families discuss the principles each candle stands for.
The colors are
taken from the traditional African national colors established by
Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey ÇƒÓ black to represent the people of
Africa, red to symbolize their struggle and green to symbolize the
future.
A 2003 marketing
study by the National Retail Foundation determined that the holiday is
celebrated by about 4.7 million Americans.
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