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Center sends Kwanzaa on camping tripBy ALICIA C. SIMMONSThe Daily NewsGALVESTON — The Nia Cultural Center took its Kwanzaa celebration on the road Thursday to the YMCA.The cultural center sponsored a “Kids Kwanzaa” at the YMCA as part of Christmas Camp ’95.Last year, the child-care program sponsored a multicultural holiday camp.“It is important to celebrate the diversities of the community,” said Patti Muniz, YMCA program director.Kwanzaa, which began Tuesday and continues through Monday, focuses on African values and heritage.Maulana Ron Karenga, a California State University professor, established the non-religious heritage celebration after the devastation of the 1965 Watts riot.Karenga believed African-Americans needed hope, said Sue Simpson, founder and president of the Nia Cultural Center.“You can’t continue to destroy things to get people’s attention,” Simpson said. “Kwanzaa is the . regeneration and the renewal of the spirit of the togetherness of the struggle ”Dressed in an African dashi-M, Simpson explained the symbols and principles of Kwanzaa, named for the SwahiliCOUNTYword meaning “first fruits of the harvest.”“The corn represents the seeds sown by the children,” she said.“They gave tribute to the children because the children would have to continue harvest.”During the second part of the presentation, Green Stevens Jr., Nia Cultural Center secretary, displayed African artifacts, including a drum from Kenya and a ceremonial mask from Mozambique.Stevens has visited 10 African countries in the past six years.Many in the African-American community have not embraced and are unaware of the heritage celebration, he said.‘They have been conditioned over the years on misinformation and negative information concerning our African history,” Stevens said.Stevens
Newspaper Details
Galveston Daily News
Galveston, Texas, US
Fri, Dec 29, 1995
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Rosenberg L.
TX, USA 11 Mar 2025
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