With a nod to the past, U. marks Kwanzaa

The African-American spiritual festival of Kwanzaa hit campus in full force Friday, as about 150 students and staff gathered in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge to celebrate the holiday. Kwanzaa, which means "The First Fruit of the Harvest" in the East African language of Kiswahili, is a holiday observed by many African Americans in celebration of their cultural heritage. Maulana Karenga, a professor at California State University at Long Beach, created the holiday in 1966 during the heat of the civil-rights movement. The holiday lasts from December 26 to January 1. This year's festivities -- the fifth annual University-sponsored Kwanzaa celebration -- included dramatic readings by the African American Arts Alliance and a dance selection by the Gumboots Dance Troupe, followed by a festive Karamu, or feast, in Houston Hall's Hall of Flags. Adhering strictly to African traditions, ceremony leaders had to receive permission from their presiding elders -- Director of Student Development and Support Planning Harold Haskins and Education Professor Margaret Beale Spencer -- before proceeding. Participants also paid tribute to their ancestors in a process known as libation. Beale, a first-time participant in Penn's celebration, described the ceremony as "personally and culturally meaningful in the gathering of an entire group of people who share a common understanding and experience together." The "non-heroic and non-religious" cultural celebration is not related to Christmas or the Jewish festival of Chanukah, according to Nisha Hitchman, Graduate Program Coordinator for the African-American, African and Caribbean communities, who coordinated the Penn Kwanzaa celebration. But just like during the Christmas season, gifts are exchanged on Kwanzaa. On January 1, parents reward their children's good deeds by giving them Zawadi, or handmade gifts. For College sophomore Dan Cherry, Kwanzaa's lack of religious ties does not detract from its unique spiritual meaning. "The fact that I am a Christian makes it easier for me to relate to Kwanzaa during the Christmas season," said Cherry, who spoke on umoja, or unity, at the celebration. The observance of rituals such as the gathering of families adds to the value of the celebration, Hitchman explained. "Rituals stressed throughout the Kwanzaa celebration are very important in our culture and something that we as African Americans have gotten away from in the last 50 years," Hitchman said. Karenga created Kwanzaa to encourage African Americans to reflect upon their roots in order to honor the past while critically evaluating their lifestyle in present-day America. Karenga's founding of the holiday formalized the age-old tradition of "seven principles which have already been an integral part of the African tradition since the beginning of time," according to Cherry. The seven principles, or Nguza Saba, include umoja; kuumba, or creativity; and imani, or faith -- with particular emphasis on the unity of black families. Homes are decorated in black, red and green throughout the celebration. Black represents the collective color of all black people; red represents the blood of ancestors; and green symbolizes land, life and new ideas. The celebration was sponsored by the Greenfield Intercultural Center and the Social Planning and Events Committee.

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