A ceremony last Thursday drew a large crowd of celebrants. While the approaching holiday season commonly brings to mind Chanukah and Christmas, many people throughout the country are also preparing to celebrate the African-American cultural festival of Kwanzaa. An early ceremony was held last Thursday to promote the holiday -- a non-religious celebration of African-American self-determination -- and to encourage people to celebrate the festival, which runs from December 26 to January 1, on their own. About 130 people -- a mix of Penn undergraduate and graduate students and members of the West Philadelphia community -- attended the hour-long ceremony, sponsored by the Greenfield Intercultural Center. Noting the diversity of people present at the event, GIC Program Coordinator Karen Chance said this was the kind of program that "brings people together from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds." The celebration of Kwanzaa was started by California State University professor Maulana Karenga in 1966 as a ritual to welcome the first harvest of the year. This festival was also a "response" to the "commercialism" of Christmas, according to attendees of the celebration held at the Newman Center. Kwanzaa, which means "first fruit of the harvest" in the East African language of Kiswahili, is celebrated through song, prayer and a feast. "Coming to an event like this tonight just reinforces my faith in what we have to do as people in order to reach out to one another," said Michael Alexander, a graduate student in the School of Social Work. "We have to learn how to say 'hello' to our brothers and sisters when we pass them by," added Alexander, who wore traditional African garb to the ceremony. The Kwanzaa celebration included a libation -- where water was poured into a plant to honor both God and the memory of the participants' ancestors -- as well as a dramatic reading of a Tunisian folk tale and a group prayer. Inspiration, a Penn a cappella group, also performed at the event. "When they sang 'Lift Every Voice' I was almost moved to tears," said West Philadelphia resident Symantha Jones, who was invited to the ceremony by a Penn alumnus. Another community resident, 11-year-old Ashley Mapp, gave a personal reading on her interpretation of Kwanzaa. She said she has been participating in a table-setting ceremony of the holiday for eight years. Nikita Anderson, 4, marked her first appearance by laying the vibunzi, which are ears of corn, on the table. Celebrants also light candles, each of which represents one of the holiday's principles, during the holiday. The seven candles -- three red, three green and one black -- stand for unity, self-determination, cooperative economics, creativity, faith, purpose and collective work and responsibility. Gifts are exchanged, as well. "It's a really beautiful thing," said Jean Sinzdak, a second-year graduate student in the School of Social Work. "I enjoyed every minute of it."
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