Just Folks Kwanzaa Committee
Muriel Hiller
Just Folks Association of PebbleCreek held its annual Kwanzaa Celebration on Monday, Dec. 6, in the Tuscany Ballroom with 180 masked people in attendance. As has been the practice, the celebration included a buffet breakfast. This year’s program included an African Marketplace where handmade artifacts from Ghana were sold throughout the three-hour celebration.
Since the program centered around the second Kwanzaa principle, Kujichagulia, which means self-determination, the artistic presentations focused on elevating one’s self to greatness. Among the performers were: Rico Burton, who recited Maya Angelou’s “And Still I Rise”; Dr. Alexander Patrick, who performed an elegant interpretative dance to Andra Day’s rendition of “Rise Up”; and Raeven Maxwell, who recited Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb” written by the Poet Laureate for President Joe Biden’s Inaugural address.
The drummer, Darrin Jackson, and his two sons began their segment of the celebration with an African Call and Response using participation from members of the audience. The drummers were accompanied by Muslimah Hameed, an African dancer, who selected participants from the audience to dance along with them.
Kwanzaa is an African American celebration for community, family, and culture which begins Dec. 26 and runs for seven days. Each night handmade presents are exchanged with family and friends. Just Folks hosts its Kwanzaa Celebration for one day; however, all aspects of Kwanzaa are performed in that celebration. Lighting of the Kinara Candle, which normally is done daily, was performed by Just Folks commitee members and President Phylice Walton. The Mistress of Ceremony, Sandria Simmons, gave an excellent summary of Kwanzaa’s purpose, history, and practice before the celebration began. A ceremony in recognition of Just Folks’ deceased members was performed, and awards were given to three outgoing officers for their exemplary work.
The program ended with a table game in which each table was given 15 minutes to come up with a song, rap, poem, or recitation using one of the principles they learned that day. Three tables were selected to demonstrate their talent and the winning table was selected according to audience applause. Gifts they received were handcrafted figurines made by Ghanaians. The program was a huge success and raffle gifts purchased from AfriSoul in Phoenix were given to audience participants who were selected by their names being pulled out of an African woven bowl.