Lighting the Kwanzaa Candle

Food, fun, and Afrocentric pride were all in great supply as Eta Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. hosted the 2018 edition its annual Kwanzaa Celebration on Saturday, December 29th. Kwanzaa is a Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community, and culture. It begins the day after Christmas and ends on New Years Day, with each of those seven days focused on a different principle.

For the third consecutive year, the chapter’s Kwanzaa event was held at Wolf Creek Library in South Fulton, GA. More than 100 people attended, including at least two dozen children. Many of the adults present wore African attire. The Fraternity’s First Vice Grand Basileus, Brother Ricky L. Lewis, in Atlanta on Fraternity business, stopped by to enjoy the festivities.

The program, produced by Brother Webster Wallace, included trumpet music from Brother Julian Smith Jr, African drumming, an interpretive dancer, and a Master Storyteller who recruited audience members to help her bring to life a story illustrating that the impossible can happen when imagination, creativity, and unity are combined.

Brother Duke Bradley spoke about cooperative economics, the fourth principle of Kwanzaa .known as Ujamaa. His message, directed at the adults, was that by being intentional about patronizing Black businesses and supporting those who embrace African American cultural values.