By Vicente Vera
Staff Writer
Trays on top of trays filled with soul food were unloaded onto a long line of tables in the middle of the San Jose State University Student Union ballroom on Wednesday night.
Program director for the African American/Black Student Success Center, Paula Powell, had to make sure those participating in the center’s first pre-Kwanzaa celebration were well fed and ready for a night of togetherness.
Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by civil rights activist Maulana Karenga as a celebration of African heritage in the United States. It is observed between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1.
“It is a black holiday, but you don’t have to be black to participate in the event,” said Synthia Saint James, the renowned artist and keynote speaker at the pre-Kwanzaa celebration.
Powell reached out to Saint James and asked if she would speak at the event because of the several Kwanzaa-themed children’s books
she worked on. She also designed the first Kwanzaa commemorative stamp for the United States Postal Service in 1997.
318 million stamps were printed with Saint James’ design. The postal service was so happy with Saint James’ work that it commissioned her to create the “2016 Forever Kwanzaa Stamp” for the holiday’s 50th anniversary.
“I came out to this event because I want more students to know about
my work and hopefully be inspired by it,” she said.
The pre-Kwanzaa celebration had been a work- in-progress since May.The final stages of the planning process came together in the past month as Powell tapped into her well- established relationships with black organizations on campus interested in participating.
The sea of students at the celebration was diverse, both in age and ethnicity. Alongside the African American/Black Student Success Center, many of the black organizations contacted by Powell attended the event to increase their presence among the community.
Applied math senior Michael Montgomery came to table for his club, Black Campus Ministries, of which he is the president. The club engages in Bible study sessions in the Student Union.
“[Powell] told us about this pre-Kwanzaa celebration and that she wanted all of
the black organizations on campus to be here tonight,” said Montgomery.
Not all students who came down to the ballroom celebrated Kwanzaa, some were present just to enjoy the atmosphere of the event. Civil engineering senior Boliver Jones came on his own to check out the festivities.
“I heard about it from my friends through GroupMe,” he said. “I wanted to get away from studying and eat some of the good food they brought out.”
After Saint James delivered her keynote address, several students from African American/ Black Student Success Center read out the seven core principles of Kwanzaa to the packed room.
The seven core principles are unity, self-determination, work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles.
“Kujichagulia means self- determination. To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves,” materials engineering senior Damiete O-George told the audience. “Kujichagulia” was the second core principle of Kwanzaa, and it also happened to be Saint James’ favorite principle. She spoke about how self-determination was essential to her career since she did not have much of a formal college education. “Self-determination is what gets me out of bed in the morning,” she said. “I wouldn’t have become a successful artist and writer without it.”
As people left the ballroom, most people stopped to thank Powell for putting on the event. She could not walk two steps without bumping into a patron who had nothing but good words to say about the pre-Kwanzaa celebration.
“I’m happy that our first event went so great. I’d say we succeeded in bringing awareness to the holiday and all of the black organizations that participated,” Powell said. “I hope this is a model for next year’s event and that students got to know what Kwanzaa is all about.”
