UPDATE: KWANZAA CELEBRATION CANCELLED
Given the current state of COVID-19 in the City of Chicago and out of an abundance of caution, the MXC Kwanzaa 2021 Celebration is cancelled this year.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
(Original post follows below)
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You’re Invited to celebrate Kwanzaa with Malcolm X College on December 29th!
Malcolm X College has a strong history of celebrating Kwanzaa and for more than 15 years. This year the celebration will kick off at 10am until 5pm on Wednesday, December 29th. A procession and drum call will be held at noon to begin the program. Event goers will enjoy live performances and shopping, courtesy of local artisans.
This event is free and open to the public and will be held on the first floor of Malcolm X College, located at 1900 W Jackson Street in Chicago . Street and garage parking are available.
The public will be treated to performances by, Najwa Dance Corps, Dee Alexander and the A Team, Armen Rah, Ugochi and the Muntu Dance Theatre.
Kwanza is an annual celebration of African-American culture that is held from December 26 to January 1. It was created by Maulana Karenga and is rooted in the African Harvest festival traditions from various countries. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966 and celebrates the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba. These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili word meaning “common”.
Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles, as follows:
- Umoja(Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
- Kujichagulia(Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.
- Ujima(Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.
- Ujamaa(Cooperative economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
- Nia(Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
- Kuumba(Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
- Imani(Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
For more information, email mxevents@ccc.edu
