Las Vegans prepare for Kwanzaa

When Grace Lorraine Taplin first heard of Kwanzaa 20 years ago, she thought to herself, "What is this? Why do we have to go through this?"

The symbols and Swahili words used during the seven-day, African-based holiday were unfamiliar to Taplin, who said that as a child she had little exposure to her African roots.

And at the time Kwanzaa was only 13 years old -- a new tradition created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga of California.

Like many others she was reluctant to accept the holiday. Yet now at 67, she celebrates Kwanzaa annually as does the predominantly black church she attends.

"It's a learning experience for me," Taplin said. "Everybody should know about their roots. You have to know about the old to do anything about the new."

Across the United States, Kwanzaa festivals and classes are growing as more people celebrate the holiday.

The observance beginning the day after Christmas focuses on traditional African values of community, family and self-improvement and is based on seven principles: unity, self-determination, faith, responsibility, cooperation, purpose and creativity. One principal is celebrated each day.

But just how easy is it to introduce a concept to a community and turn it into a cultural tradition?

"If it's something you are accustomed to doing, then it's not difficult," said 33-year-old Ulysses Palrose, wearing an African print shirt and a beaded necklace displaying a small alloy mask from west Africa.

Palrose taught Kwanzaa classes last week to about 30 adults and children who trickled in over a three-day period at Reed Whipple Cultural Center.

For people who already respect their family, community and culture, its nothing new, he said.

Kwanzaa was introduced in Las Vegas in 1974, said Bettye Keeton, who coordinates Kwanzaa activities as part of her job with the city of Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services, Cultural and Community Affairs Division.

"At the time, the community didn't really understand," she said. "A lot of people were confusing it with Christmas.

"But once they started hearing and learning more, they wanted to know more and began celebrating in their homes.

"It really is good for our African-American people because it now gives us a sense of identity," she added. "It comes from Africa. It's very touching for me to know this. Kwanzaa makes me feel -- as an African woman -- important."

The word Kwanzaa is taken from the Kiswahili phrase "Matunda Ya Kwanza," which means first fruits. Matunda Ya Kwanza is a harvest celebration common among African people. Karenga added a second "a" to distinguish the word for Americans.

The holiday is not religious, nor is it political or heroic, Palrose said.

"Every holiday in America is one of those three. Kwanzaa is none of that. It is a cultural thing. We come together in the common bond of our Africanness."

But as Palrose said before his Thursday class, not only does Kwanzaa try to re-acquaint people with their roots, it works to rebuild the bonds in the black community.

"When I was growing up we had an unspoken rule in the neighborhood: If we got out of line, the neighbors could take care of you," Palrose said. "Then they'd take you to your parents and your parents would give it to you.

"Ask any black woman or man over 30 -- they'll tell you. And that was only one generation ago. We're trying to get back to that.

"I don't know what has happened in the last 20 years to change things but there has definitely been a paradigm shift in the way things need handling."

Although more and more Las Vegans seem to embrace Kwanzaa each year, Palrose said the level of involvement isn't where he personally expects it to be.

"It's going to take some time," he said. "It's only 33 years old. I hope on its 100th anniversary everybody knows what it's about, whether they're celebrating it or not."

But each year, a few more people show up at Kwanzaa classes to test the waters. Jason Jolivet, 28, attended the class at Reed Whipple as his first official Kwanzaa event.

Jolivet said he has always been interested but just didn't take time to get into it.

"In general you just hear so much about Christmas that any other holidays around this time of year are maybe put on the back burner," he said. "As far as news and information there isn't much available. If I hadn't been in the library I wouldn't have heard about this class."

Although the class may be new for Jolivet, hearing about Kwanzaa wasn't.

"In terms of my circle of friends, I'm probably the last one getting on the boat."

While many adults are just learning about Kwanzaa, the younger generation of blacks is growing up with it -- many are learning about it in school. A few of the valley's predominantly black elementary schools have some kind of Kwanzaa festival each year.

The faculty at Kermit Booker Elementary School in North Las Vegas incorporate Kwanzaa principles year round.

"We focus on a Kwanzaa principle a month," Booker Principal Beverly Mathis said. "Under that particular principle, we focus on one word for the week."

In September the school used "Ujima" to open the school year. Ujima means collective work and responsibility, Mathis said.

Cooperation was the word selected for the first week.

With that word in mind teachers discussed how to work with others and what it means when people cooperate with one another, Mathis said. "It's not just left as the word of the week, we put it into action. We live those principles every day."

Students learn that good grades, good listening, partner reading and team building come from cooperation, she added.

Booker Elementary has celebrated Kwanzaa for four years. This is the first year the school has used the principles year round.

The principle, "Ujamaa," which stands for cooperative economics, falls directly in line with issues that affect the community, Mathis said. "North Las Vegas is close to West Las Vegas, and our children are very aware of rebuilding the West Las Vegas area," she said.

"Our children now understand things aren't going to change for us -- that we change to make things better. We have to learn to problem solve so that we can make life better for us."

Striving to maintain communities, building and restoring them are key issues to Kwanzaa, Palrose explained to his Thursday class.

Palrose said critics who consider Kwanzaa to be a "made up holiday" are ignorant.

"Everything that is done is rooted in something. It didn't haphazardly occur. It has deep African roots.

"In African tradition, we are social and communal parents."

Kwanzaa is about getting the family together, learning African history and culture and passing it to the children so they can be strong, Palrose said.

"It's no secret that black skin is a strike in this country," he said. "We need to give children the force field they need."

Karenga founded Kwanzaa during the civil rights movement when black Americans were fighting to sit at the lunch counter, Palrose said. However, he added, there is much more to the struggle.

"Your struggle should be to regain your humanity, the essence of who you are and what you are all about," he added.

Palrose read from a poem he wrote.

"Kwanzaa was created to fill the void ... celebrate your family, yourself, your people too. Remember, Kwanzaa is all about you."

When asking the class how Kwanzaa feels, one man in his 20s responded, "You feel completeness, wholeness, you feel fulfilled."

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