{"id":27704,"date":"2012-12-31T00:04:31","date_gmt":"2012-12-31T08:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=27704"},"modified":"2012-12-31T00:07:40","modified_gmt":"2012-12-31T08:07:40","slug":"a-celebration-of-family-community-and-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2012\/12\/31\/a-celebration-of-family-community-and-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"A celebration of family, community and culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Twelve-year-old Alim Barrie lights the fifth candle (Nia – Purpose) of the Kinara during the Kwanzaa celebration Sunday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE \u2013 More than 125 people gathered Sunday for the Antelope Valley NAACP\u2019s annual Kwanzaa celebration.<\/p>\n

The Kwanzaa celebration featured a rousing Drum Call & Cou Cou Dance by the Niancho Eniyaley African Performers, a History of Kwanzaa Slide Show by Jamaal Brown, a performance by the Lancaster Unique High Steppers and several guest speakers who elaborated on the meaning behind Kwanzaa\u2019s principles.<\/p>\n

There is a misconception that Kwanzaa is the black Christmas, but that\u2019s not the case, said guest speaker Simone Zulu.<\/p>\n

\u201cKwanzaa is a celebration of harvest,\u201d Zulu said. \u201cKwanzaa, basically, is seven principles and it\u2019s also first fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A highlight of the event was a performance by the Niancho Eniyaley African Performers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration that takes place from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, was created to introduce and reinforce seven basic values of African culture. The seven values are called Nguzo Saba<\/em>, which is Swahili for the seven principles. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the seven principles – Umoja<\/em> (Unity), Kujichagulia<\/em> (Self-Determination), Ujima<\/em> (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa<\/em> (Cooperative Economics), Nia<\/em> (Purpose), Kuumba<\/em> (Creativity) and Imani<\/em> (Faith).<\/p>\n

\u201cKwanzaa serves as an educational process for people who don\u2019t know about African American history,\u201d said guest speaker V. Jesse Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s something that they can learn from and then celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a celebration, regardless of your political affiliation, regardless of your religious affiliation, it\u2019s something that can be celebrated by everyone,\u201d said guest speak Jamaal Brown. \u201cIt\u2019s a celebration of family, community and culture. It\u2019s a time to reflect on the successes and lessons of the past and build on those lessons for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Event chairperson Waunette Cullors said education and community were the two most important aspects of Sunday\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor everybody to go into the New Year working together, and being all in one accord,\u201d Cullors said. \u201cIt is a great celebration of family, community, friends and just everybody being together in fellowship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an honor and privilege to attend the 2012 NAACP Kwanzaa Celebration of family, community and culture,\u201d said Lancaster Human Relations Tapestry Commissioner and Agents of Change President Dr. Miguel Coronado. \u201cAlthough the night was cold and rainy, the atmosphere at the event was warm and inviting. The Kwanzaa Celebration is a beautiful way to mark the ending of 2012, celebrating the year\u2019s bountiful harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

View many sights from the 2012 Kwanzaa Celebration below.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Lancaster Unique High Steppers performed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Guest speaker Jamaal Brown, publisher of the 365 Black History Calendar and Lancaster Human Relations Tapestry Commissioner Sue Dell.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
More than 125 people attended the event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The drummers hailed from two different tribes in West Africa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Niancho Eniyaley African Performers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Several audience members tried their hand at African dance Sunday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Budding artist and college student Paisley Cullors (left) showed off a piece she created in just 20 minutes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Several community queens attended the event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALMDALE \u2013 More than 125 people gathered Sunday for the Antelope Valley NAACP\u2019s annual Kwanzaa celebration. The Kwanzaa celebration featured a rousing Drum Call & Cou Cou Dance by the Niancho Eniyaley African Performers, a History of Kwanzaa Slide Show by Jamaal Brown, a performance by the Lancaster Unique High Steppers and several guest speakers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}