Unity, community and African heritage are being celebrated this week as Kwanzaa festivities continue across the Northeast and beyond. The seven-day holiday started Thursday, including a ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts
Dancing, music, poetry and more marked the start of Kwanzaa in city hall, with a packed room and the traditional Kinara candle set at its center - put on in-part by the local Kwanzaa Collective in the Valley.
This year, the focus was on Umoja - Swahili for "unity" and the first of seven principles highlighted over the course of Kwanzaa’s seven days.
Leading the event was Ayanna Crawford, president of the Kwanzaa Collective.
“It is based on the agricultural celebrations of Africa called the ‘First Fruits’ celebrations, which were times of harvest and gathering, reverence … recommitment and celebration,” said Crawford, reading from a book authored by the holiday’s creator, Maulana Karenga. “Therefore, Kwanzaa is a time of in-gathering of African Americans, to celebrate their heritage and their achievements, reverence for the creator and creation…”
Poetry read by Regine Jackson and a meditative, "soul healing" performance put on by Maria del Carmen Rodriguez brought musical flare to the occasion.
Bringing some serious percussion into the mix was Bomba de Aqui - a music company devoted to performing and teaching Afro-Puerto Rican traditions throughout the region.
It was enough to get the room up and dancing - Mayor Domenic Sarno included, who issued a special proclamation, declaring it “Kwanzaa Week.”
“… therefore, I, Domenic Sarno, mayor of the city of Springfield, do hereby proclaim Dec. 26, 2024, through Jan. 1, 2025, Kwanzaa week in the city of Springfield, and I urge all [of] our citizens not only to be aware this event, but celebrate the principles here in the great city of Springfield, because it can help each and every one of us,” the mayor said.
Bomba de Aqui members were also among those honored during the event's “Kwanzaa Impact Awardees” portion, as was local DJ Kevin Spivey, also known as DJ KLS, and the local Unity Hearts Foundation.
Other community members honored included Ariaun Stewart – whose Community Human Resources company serves small businesses throughout the Springfield area.
“… I'm always just extremely grateful at how the community comes out to support not just what I'm working on, but also each other,” she said. “My business is Community Human Resources, so it's all about connecting people with career opportunities and it's just, I love this community very dearly - it has been very good to me, so thank you.”
More celebrations like Thursday’s are to come. The Kwanzaa Collective also took part in a special flag raising in Chicopee Friday morning at city hall, with another observance at Holyoke City Hall on Saturday at 10.
Another observance Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. in downtown Springfield at the UMass Amherst Henry M. Thomas III Center at Tower Square.
