Although Kwanzaa doesn't officially begin until Dec. 26, more than 200 IU students and faculty, as well as members of the Bloomington community, gathered together for the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center's annual Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration Wednesday night.
"Tonight was excellent, and we are very pleased with the turnout," said Oyibo Afoaku, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. "This event was very important because IU is a big campus, but a program like Kwanzaa, which is so positive, brings everyone together."
The celebration began with a libation, the traditional African send-off that blesses the event and gets people excited to be there, she said.
Following the libation, audience members joined in with the singing of the Black National Anthem. With musical accompaniment, three different vocal ensembles took the stage to perform soulful renditions of Christian songs throughout the night. Despite the nature of these performances, Kwanzaa is not a religious event.
"Kwanzaa is a time for ingathering and for our people to bond together," said keynote speaker Rev. Patricia Efiom, an IU graduate and Bloomington resident. "Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday but a cultural one, an opportunity for us to gather and remember who we are and honor and celebrate one another."
In her speech, Efiom identified the meaning of Kwanzaa and its importance for African-Americans today. She also talked about Maulana Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa, who spoke at last year's Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration.
"One thing that happened with slavery is that we were ripped apart from our homeland and each other," she said. "The split and divide has never been completely corrected, but Karenga in the '60s recognized this. His attempt with Kwanzaa was to bring us together again."
