Kwanzaa

The Chesapeake Children's Museum helps children learn about Kwanzaa, the holiday that celebrates African-American family, community and culture, with a program on Thursday. Kwanzaa dates to 1966.

Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon should not re-enter the political world. If not for a particularly egregious lapse of common sense (thieving gift cards intended for less fortunate people), people would very likely remember her in a more positive light. She could have murdered another, and I believe I would not see her in a lesser light. If memory serves me correctly, Ms. Dixon pilfered the gift cards around the Christmas and Kwanzaa season. For me to think that she literally and figuratively stole Christmas or Kwanzaa from a child makes me nauseated.

Here are some of the Baltimore Kwanzaa activities scheduled this week:* Dec. 26: Maria Broom at 1 p.m. at Eubie Blake Center, 409 N. Charles St.; festivities at 3 p.m. at Mondawmin Mall.* Dec. 27: Festivities from 2 to 6 p.m. at City Hall in the Curran Room on the fourth floor; festivities from 6-9 p.m. at Triumph Baptist Church, 2200 Oliver St.* Dec. 28: Nubian Arts Cultural Center Community African Dance Class at 3 p.m. at Druid Hill YMCA, 1601 Druid Hill Ave. Admission is $1; festivities from 1-4 p.m. at Triumph Baptist Church, 2200 Oliver St.; Ancestors' Roots celebration from 5-9 p.m. at the Park Heights Street Academy annex, 2713 Shirley Ave.; a celebration and candlelight ceremony from 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m. at the National Association of Kawaida Organizations, 205 Clay St.; Kwanzaa jam featuring Third Eye, a Washington, D.C. reggae band, at 10 p.m. at Kromah Gallery, 429 N. Eutaw St., $10 in advance, $13 at the door.

With rapt attention, 4-year-old Alexis Gamble fixed her eyes on three teenage girls, bare-footed in vibrant-colored dresses, as they danced to traditional African beats on Saturday, the fourth day of Kwanzaa. The Gamble family, of Owings Mills, lights a candle each day of the seven-day holiday that was created in 1966 by Eastern Shore native Maulana Karenga to reflect on African culture. They were among more than 350 who turned out for the annual celebration at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

To 5-year-old Sara Scherlinder of Washington, Kwanzaa means some really cool pink and yellow face paint. But 13-year-old Joey Davis of Catonsville found a somewhat deeper meaning in the holiday that he said was created so people would "learn to respect your culture." Clearly, the festival means different things to different people. But most all who participated Sunday in the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture's annual Kwanzaa celebration might have to agree that Kwanzaa is fun. Sara and Joey came with their families to the museum on what was Day 2 of the weeklong festival.

With rapt attention, 4-year-old Alexis Gamble fixed her eyes on three teenage girls, bare-footed in vibrant-colored dresses, as they danced to traditional African beats on Saturday, the fourth day of Kwanzaa. The Gamble family, of Owings Mills, lights a candle each day of the seven-day holiday that was created in 1966 by Eastern Shore native Maulana Karenga to reflect on African culture. They were among more than 350 who turned out for the annual celebration at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

December marked the 40th anniversary of Kwanzaa. Observed from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, Kwanzaa is an African-American cultural expression marked by a seven-day celebration of certain principles, including unity, self-determination, creative work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Maulana Karenga founded Kwanzaa, which is Swahili for "first fruits of the harvest," in 1966. While there were many Kwanzaa events in the area, we stopped at the Baltimore Museum of Art for family activities.

The Howard County chapter of African American Culture will offer a countywide celebration of Kwanzaa from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 26. at the East Columbia 50 Plus Center, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. The public is invited. To reserve a seat: 410-313-7680. Mentors sought A-OK (Assist Our Kids) Mentoring/Tutoring Program is recruiting volunteers to work with Howard County elementary and middle schools. Volunteers are needed during school hours and after school until 6 p.m. Volunteers should be able to dedicate an hour a week for a school year.

The man dressed in black was undaunted when twice he failed to light a black candle that symbolizes unity and the beginning of Kwanzaa, the seven-day African-American cultural celebration.So Sanifu Onaje Mwananchi, 40, principal organizer for the Association for Interdisciplinary Afrocentric Thought (TAIFA), tried again.This time, on a stage before 70 people last night at the Arena Theatre on McCulloh Street, Mwananchi was successful."This represents Umoja," he said. "Black symbolizes not only unity, but us as a people."

Columbia resident Wallis Washington has quiet but powerful feelings about today's Kwanzaa celebration at the Howard County Center of African-American Culture, next to Columbia Mall."

Dressed in a gold and tan dashiki shirt, William E. Lambert stepped out in front of the ritual table and spelled it out in plain terms for the gathering at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park & Museum in Catonsville: "As they say on the corner, 'We're all in this mess together.' That's what this is all about it. " So began the ceremonies on Day Three of the weeklong festival of Kwanzaa, an observance born of black nationalism of the 1960s that has survived, adapted, mellowed and grown to see a 45th year and another generation of children lighting the seven candles on the ritual candelabra known as the kinara.

To 5-year-old Sara Scherlinder of Washington, Kwanzaa means some really cool pink and yellow face paint. But 13-year-old Joey Davis of Catonsville found a somewhat deeper meaning in the holiday that he said was created so people would "learn to respect your culture." Clearly, the festival means different things to different people. But most all who participated Sunday in the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture's annual Kwanzaa celebration might have to agree that Kwanzaa is fun. Sara and Joey came with their families to the museum on what was Day 2 of the weeklong festival.

To 5-year-old Sara Scherlinder of Washington, Kwanzaa means some really cool pink and yellow face paint. But 13-year-old Joey Davis of Catonsville found a somewhat deeper meaning in the holiday that he said was created so people would "learn to respect your culture." Clearly, the festival means different things to different people. But most all who participated Sunday in the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture's annual Kwanzaa celebration might have to agree that Kwanzaa is fun. Sara and Joey came with their families to the museum on what was Day 2 of the weeklong festival.

The Columbia Center for Spiritual Living hosts its annual candle-lighting service at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Hawthorn Center, 6175 Sunny Spring. The event includes the singing of holiday songs and the lighting of the Menorah and the Christ and Kwanzaa candles. For more information, call 410-750-8559 or go to columbiacsl.org

Keturah Stovall, 9, turned to a small mirror and admired the African-inspired pink and orange designs freshly painted on her face. "I like my face," she said softly to her mother, Monique Fitzgerald of Baltimore. "It's beautiful." Stovall and her mother were among those yesterday who visited the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture for its fourth annual Kwanzaa celebration. Organizers said they expected 1,000 people for the daylong event. Yesterday was the second day of Kwanzaa, a seven-day holiday that honors African-American people, history and culture.

The Howard County chapter of African American Culture will offer a countywide celebration of Kwanzaa from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 26. at the East Columbia 50 Plus Center, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. The public is invited. To reserve a seat: 410-313-7680. Mentors sought A-OK (Assist Our Kids) Mentoring/Tutoring Program is recruiting volunteers to work with Howard County elementary and middle schools. Volunteers are needed during school hours and after school until 6 p.m. Volunteers should be able to dedicate an hour a week for a school year.

I've come aboard as the new editor of UniSun at a time of great promise and strong pride for people of color. Indeed, it's been an inspiring year for black Americans, many of whom never thought they would live to see a black man in the White House's Oval Office. With Barack Obama's amazing and historic triumph on Nov. 4, we now have a president-elect and first family who look a lot like you and me. I know it took a lot of sacrifice and struggle to get to this moment of change. But as a daughter of the South, too young to have participated in the civil rights movement, I see it as a beginning, not an ending.

DEC. 19 In a new documentary, The Black Candle, director and Morgan State University professor M.K. Asante Jr. (right) gives audiences an in-depth look at the pan-African celebration of Kwanzaa, from the holiday's cultural beginnings to its impact on the African-American community since its inception in the 1960s. Narrated by Maya Angelou and featuring rap legend and activist Chuck D, the film visits Kwanzaa revelers across the globe, exploring the holiday's effect on their lives. A free screening is set for 6 p.m. at the Druid Heights Community Center, 2140 McCulloh St., 410-523-1350.