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“Habari Gani”: Hopkinsville Organizers Host Virtual Kwanzaa Celebration

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  The global coronavirus pandemic has caused many communities to reimagine traditional holiday plans, and Hopkinsville community members organizing said celebrating Kwanzaa — the week long, Afro-centric holiday —may help people become more culturally aware. 

The celebrations in Hopkinsville, open to people of any race and culture, were organized by Markeeta Wilkerson and Zirconia Alleyne after noticing a lack of pride and hope in her community. She also drew on her own Kwanzaa experiences in college. 

“There's been a lot of the perception that Black isn't beautiful. So to help instill that black is beautiful in our community, that's one of the reasons why we wanted to revisit Kwanzaa,” she said. 

Wilkerson said the pandemic has forced them to adjust by moving nearly all celebration events on Facebook Live this year. She said she’s had to “think outside the box” to engage others. Online celebrations include a virtual showcase for black-owned businesses, vision board workshops, and a drop-off clothes drive. 

“Kwanzaa is a celebration of life. And it's a celebration that you usually do with family and friends, or you can do in the community,” she said. “It was a huge transition to go virtual, because you don't know who's looking at it and if they're actually getting the message.”

Wilkerson said social unrest over racial injustice has helped younger members of the Black community learn about their culture’s “positive history”, including Juneteenth and Black History Month. 

Murray State University Assistant Professor of History and Coordinator of Religious Studies Brian Clardy said the holiday also helps teach African American history. He said a common misconception is that many confuse the celebration as a religious holiday. 

 “Kwanzaa is not a religion. It is a celebration of culture, of family, unity, achievement, within the eyes within the construct of cooperatives economics, cooperative struggle,” he said. “The whole idea of the celebration is to teach Black folk, ‘you are not some bad luck accidents in history, nor are you an afterthought.’ You are tied to a much larger destiny, and a much larger history and a much larger context. And you are not an ‘it,’ you are a ‘you.’”

Clardy said the holiday, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, allows African-Americans to celebrate their culture while also teaching universal principles such as Umoja (Unity) and Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility). He said while the Civil Rights era played a role in the holiday, the Black Arts Movement during the 1960s helped expand Kwanzaa. 

According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, much of the language of Kwanzaa, including its name, stems fromSwahili, one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa. 

Another common misconception is that the holiday is exclusively for African-American communities. Clardy said participating in Kwanzaa, regardless of race, is encouraged.

“The problem in America is, when it comes to race and racism we don’t know a lot about each other,” Clardy said. “Yes, it is rooted in African reality. But these principles are inclusive, and they are universal. So if white folks wanted to participate in Kwanzaa or learn more about it, or become involved with any of the Zoom parties, I think that that would certainly be appropriate and, very, very necessary.”

Wilkerson agreed, adding the holiday also highlights the positive potential for society. 

“It doesn't matter what color you are. It doesn't matter what background you have. Kwanzaa is for everyone, it's a celebration of black culture. It's a celebration of black unity, it's a celebration in observance of the positive things that we can and will do in society.” Wilkerson said. 

Kwanzaa continues until New Year’s Day.Wilkerson and Alleyne’s community organization can be found on Facebook at The Kwanzaa Experience.

 

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