LSU’s African and black students celebrated their African roots Tuesday night at the University’s Kwanzaa celebration.
Kwanzaa is a holiday created by Maulana Ron Karenga in 1966 to celebrate “the best things about African culture,” said Brandon Hudson, Kwanzaa committee co-chair.
The seven day celebration occurs at the end of December each year, but the African American Cultural Center decided to celebrate the holiday early this year before University students go home for semester break.
The seven principles of Kwanzaa-unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith-contribute to the building of family, community and culture, Bagneris said.
Kwanzaa also is a time to refocus on African heritage, said Shavon Magee, a marketing senior.
“This is so important for us because we come from Africa,” Magee said. “We learn so much American history, but that history starts with slavery for us. In Africa we were rulers.”
Magee also said Kwanzaa gave her hope that she can be “more than a statistic.”
Bagneris told students that the principles of Kwanzaa are a way of life.
“We should celebrate them in the seven days of Kwanzaa and live them throughout the rest of the year,” she said.
One way to foster unity among the black community is for people to remember their African ancestry, said Nomzamo Iyanu, a member of the Baton Rouge community.
Iyanu performed a libation ceremony for students. She first asked an elder in the group for permission to perform the ceremony.
“This is African tradition,” she said.
The libation ceremony is a reiteration of the African belief that life never dies, Iyanu said.
One by one students and adults called on the spirits of their ancestors-“to bless and acknowledge them and ask them for guidance,” Iyanu said.
Four women from the African Student Association, dressed in black with bright head wraps, performed a traditional African dance and invited members of the audience to join.
Starvos Pierce, a painting and drawing senior, read students an original poem titled “And Still Mother Africa Cries.”
Pierce said Africans were robbed from Africa, the “mother of mankind.”
“Africa weeps and wails for the ancestors taken from her,” he said.
Students from several campus organizations performed interpretations of the principles of Kwanzaa through interpretive dances, poetry and songs.
The night ended with a Kwanzaa pledge that students recited in union: “We are an African people! We will remember the humanity, glory and suffering of our ancestors.”
KWANZAA CELEBRATION
December 3, 2003