Just Do It

Sharing the Heritage! Annual Holiday & Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration

by Dianca Potts

Sat., Dec. 20, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., free, African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St., 215-574-0380, aampmuseum.org

It's beginning to look a lot like Kwanzaa. Too often overlooked due to the glitz of Christmas trees and Santa, this seven-day holiday gets the spotlight this weekend. "It focuses on fundamental collective values that are rooted in African culture and reflected in the best practices of African-American people," explains AAMP's curator of education, Leslie Willis-Lowry. "These values are called Nguza Saba, which in Swahili means the 'Seven Principles,' designed to build strong and wholesome African-American communities. The Seven Principles are unity, self-determination, collective work, responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith."

To illustrate the origin of Kwanzaa and its cultural importance, AAMP plans to screen Philly boy M.K. Asante Jr.'s film The Black Candle."The first feature film on Kwanzaa, The Black Candle traces the holiday's growth out of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s to its present-day reality as a global, Pan-African holiday embraced by over 40 million celebrants," says Willis-Lowry.

Attendees will also get a chance to do some last-minute holiday shopping for crafts, clothing and Afro-centric products for sale throughout the day. Coupled with performances by Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble, Reggae, Jazz and a Kwanzaa Juba Circle, the celebration features face painting, balloon animals and story-telling for the youngsters. "Because this African-American holiday celebrates family, community and culture, it creates a climate to challenge, enable and empower participants to examine themselves," says Willis-Lowry. "Making an investment in the 'wholistic' well-being of each other is one approach to address the societal and global issues that plague our communities, such as poverty, drugs and violence."