Ask Ev’ita Colon about Umoja and she bubbles over. Ask her about Kuumba, and she says “I embody it.”

Those are two of the seven principles of the Festival of Kwanzaa, the celebration of African heritage in African-American culture that begins Friday.

Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival. Each day has a specific principle attached to it.

Umoja is the first day. It means unity — something Colon believes is necessary given the growing number of shootings and overall violence that has beset Lancaster in recent months.

Colon will be among a number of performers who will be speaking, dancing and celebrating Kwanzaa at the Crispus Attucks Community Center Friday, beginning at 6 p.m.

Former County Commissioner Ron Ford will be there. Ford has been  involved in perpetuating the center’s Southeast Area Wall of History. The wall honors those who lived, worked or worshipped in that area of the city and notes their accomplishments.

This year, the  center will honor the late Edward Allen, who was the first executive director of the Urban League of Lancaster County.

In his position as Urban League director, Allen had a role in promoting equality, attracting employers and calming nerves in the midst of the civil unrest that shook the city in the late 1960s. He helped establish job fairs and later served as a representative to the state Manpower Services Council.

Ford described the Southeast area as a melting pot of people of different races, creeds and colors.

He pointed out that  former WGAL-TV news anchor Dick Hoxworth, former state Rep. Jere Schuler and  Franklin & Marshall College pollster G. Terry Madonna all grew up in the  city’s Southeast.

“It was sort of the Ellis Island of Lancaster County,” he said. Today it is home to a growing number of Hispanic families.

As part of Friday’s program,  Millersville University professor Dr. Rita Smith Wade-El will lead youths by explaining the symbols and principles of Kwanzaa. Colon and GI Brinson will focus on the importance of black lives. Also featured will be African dancing by Janet Peck with drumming; a  solo by Linta Baldwin and the Infamous Unstoppable Drum and Drill team  and  mime. A traditional soul food dinner will be served to end the celebration.

This is Colon’s first Kwanzaa  performance. But it is not the first time she has spoken about the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

During her senior year at Shippensburg University, she decided to create a project that would get people talking.

So she wrote a play, “Speak to my soul: A Montage of Voices,” which encourages dialogue among people allowing them to speak about their heritage and experiences, and  performed it at the school.

“I wanted to go out with a bang,” she said.  “It debuted for two nights and people were inspired.”

As was Colon.

She has since formed a group “Speak to my Soul,” which encourages  people to use spoken word and dance  to educate people about their backgrounds and to bring people together through their stories.

She uses Kwanzaa’s seven principles, based on the Swahili language — umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujimaa (collective economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity) and imani (faith) — when she addresses youth groups.

A McCaskey and Shippensburg University graduate, Colon works as a paraeducator at Edward Hand Middle School in Lancaster.

“I love working with the youths,” she said. And they think it’s cool that she went to Hand when she was a student.

On the first day of Kwanzaa, she will devote her discussion to umoja.

“We need to talk to the community  and unite,” she said. “It’s a message I need to project.”

How did she come up with the idea for “Speak to my soul” and the community group of the same name?

In a word: Kuumba.

“That (creativity) speaks to the things I like to do.”  

Because Kwanzaa falls at the end of the calendar year, some people have confused the meaning of celebration.

“Kwanzaa is absolutely not a celebration in place of Christmas,” said  Crispus Attucks Executive Director Cheryl Holland-Jones.

It is, instead, a celebration emphasizing the culture, heritage and traditional values of African-Americans which, she noted, “is even more important during these unfortunate times while we are attempting to prove that black lives matter.”

 

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/what-kwanzaa-stands-for-and-why-it-matters-this-year/article_c63a760c-8b6f-11e4-840e-37e2f21ea168.html