TILLERY – The Tillery Community Center was buzzing with excitement Friday afternoon. Women in Brightly colored dresses, called kaftans, carried plates and bowls of food into the kitchen, hugging one another as children ran about. It was Umoja, the first day of Kwanzaa and the Tillery community and folks from all around the Valley were clearly excited.

hank dewald | daily herald Gary Grant, CEO of Concerned Citizens of Tillery, stands in front of the Kinara used to symbolize and celebate the seven days and principals of Kwanzaa. Paintings by Scotland Neck artist Mary Ellen Jones flanked both sides of the table displaying the Kinara and other symbols of Kwanzaa. Advertisement

 A huge Christmas tree stood behind the podium at the front of the large meeting room and garlands lined the entrance to the kitchen area. Paintings by Scotland Neck artist Mary Ellen Jones were prominently displayed around the kinara, which is the seven-stick candle holder that symbolizes the seven principals of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration of African-American heritage.

Kwanzaa consists of seven days of celebration, featuring activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations, and culminating in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Ron Karenga, and was first celebrated from Dec. 26, 1966 to Jan. 1, 1967.

While Karenga, a social activist and scholar, created this celebration to “give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society,” the folks at the Tillery Community Center had no problem celebrating both holidays as one.

In fact, this was the 25th annual Holiday Fellowship Hour the community has celebrated together and Bibles and scripture reading were a prominent part of the celebration.

Theresa Harvey and her daughter Doretha Whitfield came dressed in beautiful flowing dresses with large African hats. Both carried large platters of food into the community kitchen for the feast that would follow.

By the time they came out of the kitchen, there were few seats left in the crowded meeting room. “Gary Grant keeps us very busy,” said 84-year-old Harvey, “and that keeps us very young.” She would sing “What A Wonderful World” during the afternoon program, which opened with Affirmations of Christmas by Master of Ceremonies Gary R. Redding, who was in town from New York, where he is attending college.

After a scripture reading by Clementine Sledge and a song and prayer by Claude Ford, Carolyn Moore reaffirmed what Kwanzaa means and how it is in no way an alternative to the birth of Christ. “Christmas is the birthday of Christ,” She told the audience, “Christmas tree lights are nice, but Jesus is the light of the world.”

Gary Grant further explained why Kwanzaa is more of a celebration of being African-American, rather than any kind of alternative holiday. “Kwanzaa is a year-round celebration, a non-religeous celebration,” He said. He then began explaining the symbols of Kwanzaa and the seven principals of Kwanzaa.

The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” meaning “first fruits.” The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s.

Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called “The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa,” or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba — “The Seven Principles of Blackness”), which Karenga said “is a communitarian African philosophy” consisting of what Karenga called “the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.”

The seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles:

• Umoja (Unity) To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

• Kujichagulia (Self-determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.

    • Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

• Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

• Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

• Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Grant had earlier passed out different sheets of colored paper, each of which contained either one of the Kwanzaa symbols or one of the seven principals. He called on each person to read aloud what each meant.

After each person read the meaning of the individual principals, they would call on another audience member to describe what that principal meant to them and to tell the group how they had used that principal in their lives during the past year.

“This is not a ‘Black Christmas’ or even a holiday,” Grant said. “Gifts may be given to deserving children, but that is optional and certainly not required. Kwanzaa is a celebration of being African-American.”

Once the official program was over, the real celebration began as everyone feasted on the delicacies that covered the counters in the large kitchen. Gifts were exchanged and excited children ran among smiling parents, aunts, uncles and neighbors. Umoja had come and gone, but the week-long celebration will not be over until the New Year is ushered in Wednesday. “And they say there is nothing to do in Tillery,” Grant said smiling.