Unity and heritage: Kwanzaa in Minnesota
While the end of the year draws near, many African American and Black families across the country are celebrating Kwanzaa, including Twin Cities actor T. Mychael Rambo.
“It's not like this consumerism that we experienced Christmas,” Rambo said. As a brand ambassador for the Cultural Wellness Center, he is helping facilitate Kwanzaa festivities at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis.
“There'll be moments for, for dancing and drumming,” Rambo said, as well as performances and food.
Kwanzaa, which is from a Swahili phrase meaning “first harvest,” traces its origins to the 1960s when activist and academic Maulana Karenga created the holiday. The festival lasts seven days and celebrates African American culture and heritage.
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“It was really important to figure out some form of community building that would respond to how the need for a resurgence of African American Black pride,” Rambo said of Kwanzaa’s creation.
“[It’s] not an alternative to Christmas, but something that was certainly about how Black bodies in America needed to work together to amplify the richness and the wealth of Black culture here on this continent.”
An actor well into his 60s, Rambo didn’t celebrate Kwanzaa in his youth —owing to the fact it wasn’t invented until after he was born and not widely celebrated. It wasn’t until he was in his 30s that Rambo started celebrating the holiday.
“Some of my greatest memories are looking at the kinara, which is the candle holder ... there are seven candles for the principles of Kwanzaa as well.”
Each night of Kwanzaa focuses on a different principle, including the first night, Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili.
Another favorite aspect of Kwanzaa for Rambo is the storytelling.
“The tradition for Dr. Karenga was really about the experience of intergenerational and interconnectivity of Black people, of African American people, in America.”
Kwanzaa ends on January 1. For more information about the Midtown Global Market celebration of the holiday, visit their website.
Correction: An earlier audio version of this story misstated the dates for the event at the Midtown Global Market. It has been updated.
