KWANZAA Taking pride in culture Kwanzaa celebrates seven principles of black values.

By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
ET'S SAY YOU DON'T KNOW EXACTLY what Kwanzaa is, or what the word even means.
You watched and learned during a Kwanzaa presentation at P. Ross Berry Middle School, courtesy of the Youngstown City School District's After School Alliance program, as pupils in the school's fifth through eighth grades taught its meaning.
They did so with the help of African dance and drumming and colorful costumes. It was a show of African culture, which adherents remember and honor during the seven days of Kwanzaa, Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
The Harambee Youth Organization of Youngstown taught the youngsters the dances in the after-school program. It is just one of many organizations that come in and teach pupils in 10 participating schools everything from dance to art to cooking to hands-on science to karate.
Harambee was in full force Tuesday evening at the P. Ross Berry gymnasium. The dances, which demand precision, athleticism and energy, are mesmerizing. The drumming, as Harambee instructors led their students of the drum called a djembe, is a ceaseless rhythm that pulls you in to actually feel the spirit of the culture.
The girls swirl, step and leap in their skirts and headdresses. The boy boot dancers stomp and slap their rubber boots, evoking the picture of a line of men coming back to their African village from the diamond mines, where the dance originated. The men worked hard all day, and the people who worked them tried to break their spirit. But it remained unbroken, and they danced to prove that.
Pride in African culture
You might realize that Kwanzaa is just like that boot dance. It's a way for black people to keep their African cultural spirit alive, and to show their pride.
"It deals with a value system all people should live by, for blacks -- but if all of us lived it, we'd be better for it," said Lynnette Miller, a guidance counselor at the school and its coordinator for the after-school program. Miller and her husband, Ron, are also the founders of Harambee.
There are symbols and rituals important to the observance, just like in any other.
The African American flag, with the colors red, black and green, is honored: "Remembering the red, for the blood and suffering of our ancestors. Remembering the black, for the color and culture of African people. Remembering the green, for the land stolen from us, which we will reclaim to build our nation."
There is the black national anthem: "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
The seven principles
And there are seven principles of Kwanzaa, or of blackness. They are Umoja, or unity; Kujichagulia, or self-determination; Ujima, collective work and responsibility; Ujamaa, or cooperative economics; Nia, or the purpose of restoring "our people" to their traditional greatness; Kuumba, or creativity that benefits the community; and Imani, or faith in the righteousness and struggles of parents, teachers and leaders who helped black people get where they are today.
During libations, when water from the Unity Cup is thrown toward the floor, the names of people who paved the way are called out, and the audience was invited to do so: "Martin Luther King." "Malcolm X." "Rosa Parks."
What is the meaning of the word Kwanzaa? Its literal Swahili meaning is "first," or "first fruit." It's modeled after an African harvest celebration, and celebrants have a table in their home that features a candleholder with seven candles. Each night of Kwanzaa, a candle representing one of the seven principles is lighted. There is fruit on the table, and ears of corn, one for each child in the family.
But there's a deeper meaning to Kwanzaa. Unity. In remembering where they've been, celebrants support one another to get to where they're going.
starmack@vindy.com