South LA celebrates the New Year at Kwanzaa Gwaride parade

Hundreds gathered in South Los Angeles on Dec. 26 to mark the 47th year of what organizers say is the world’s oldest Kwanzaa parade, honoring African American and Pan-African culture, history, family and community.

The parade — featuring maskers, dancers, floats and musicians — headed south on Crenshaw Boulevard to Leimert Park, where participants joined for a lively community festival.

The KwanZaa Gwaride celebrates the coming of the New Year, ushering in a new age, and the Gwaride is a spiritual procession saluting ancestral legacy and nature, organizers said. The KwanZaa New Year begins on December 26, or in KwanZaa parlance WaKwanZaa 1.

Tuesday’s parade marked the start of the seven-day holiday, created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, the chair of Africana studies at Cal State Long Beach. The name “Kwanzaa” — derived from the Swahili phrase, “matunda ya kwanza” — is typically observed on the week between Christmas and New Year’s, starting on Dec. 26.

In his annual founder’s message, Karenga wrote, “Among all the goods that are granted, given and gained through ceaseless striving and righteous and relentless struggle, we wish, especially for our people and all other oppressed and struggling peoples of the world, the shared and indivisible goods of freedom, justice and peace, deservedly achieved and enjoyed and passed on to future generations.”

Kwanzaa is based on the theory of Kawaida, which upholds the belief that social revolutionary change for Black America can be achieved by exposing Black Americans to their cultural heritage and roots.

“Kwanzaa was conceived and born in the womb, work and transformative struggles of the Black Freedom Movement. And thus, its essential message and meaning was shaped and shared not only in sankofa initiatives of cultural retrieval, of the best of our views, values and practices as African peoples,” Karenga added.

The holiday has roots in both traditional and modern celebrations throughout Africa. Its focus is the “Nguzo Saba,” or values such as unity, self-determination, purpose, faith and creativity — known as the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Families can celebrate Kwanzaa at home all week long with feasts, arts and crafts, reading books, or watching films that relate to the seven values. During the week, a candelabrum called a Kinara is lit, and ears of corn representing each child in the family are placed on a traditional straw mat.

A Kwanzaa-themed march was also held Tuesday at the L.A. City Hall, where over 100 rally-goers peacefully protested the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Organizers said the first principle of Kwanzaa — “Umoja,” meaning unity — maintains “unity as a family, community, and race of people. In solidarity and anti-capitalism, on the first day of Kwanzaa as a carousel of cultures, we are calling for an international day of ceasefire.”

Staff writer Allyson Vergara and City News Service contributed to this report.

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South LA celebrates the New Year at Kwanzaa Gwaride parade – Daily News

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