Kwanzaa celebrants explain the principles behind annual festivities

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

It's not about Christmas.

It's not really a holiday at all, but a celebration of culture.

It's about strength, awareness and unity. Millions of people celebrate their African heritage during Kwanzaa, which is celebrated for seven days, beginning today, through the first day of the new year.

The celebration is in no way related to Christmas or the December holiday season, to which it has mistakenly been compared. Instead it is a celebration of family and community that takes place during a time when people are already gathered for year-end festivities.

For a growing number of Southern Nevadans, Kwanzaa is a 34-year-old tradition that lasts throughout the year -- in their hearts.

In 1966 Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in San Diego. It was originally designed as a holiday to strengthen families of African heritage and promote family values.

As part of the celebration, families light candles on a candelabra (which resembles a Jewish menorah) called a kinara. Three red, three green and one black candle are fitted into the minshumaa and are used to symbolize the seven Kwanzaa principles -- umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity) and imani (faith).

Dr. Alfred Gourrier, a local elementary school principal, has practiced Kwanzaa for 25 years.

He first heard of Kwanzaa at his former community center in New Orleans and celebrated with members of the New Orleans Association of Black Social Workers.

Initially he was impressed by Kwanzaa's first principle -- umoja (or unity).

"I felt the activity was really something that would work to bring families together in unity," Gourrier said. "As I began to get more involved and participate in Kwanzaa I began to appreciate the other principles and the significance (in) our lives that they play."

The second principle -- kujichagulia -- also played an important part in his life.

"We must be self-determined," Gourrier said. "Unless you know who you are and where you come from then you won't have a vision of the future."

Gourrier had heard of Kwanzaa but had yet to follow its practices of self-empowerment when he left the military in the early '70s. As a married man with small children, Kwanzaa became more important to him and his family.

"You celebrate yourself and that's what Kwanzaa is, it's a celebration of African-American history and culture and the African-American family," he said.

Gourrier moved to Las Vegas in 1989 and raised his seven children, who range in age from 18 to 33, here following Kwanzaa traditions.

During Kwanzaa, his family gathers nightly to light candles, feast on favorite dishes and hear the seven principles spoken aloud.

Gourrier's 19-year-old daughter, Kim, is a sophomore at Norfolk University in Virginia. She grew up listening to the seven principles during the seven-days of ceremonies, which involved unity, self-determination and faith.

"It always had a special way of bringing a family together," Kim Gourrier, a Clark High School graduate, said. "It gave us a sense of unity and a chance to embrace our culture."

For her the second night of festivities, kujichagulia, is poignant. "We each hold something that makes us self-determined at what we have chosen to do as individuals and when we bring it all together we thrive as a community," she said. "It's a sense of celebration for us and to celebrate our heritage and who we are."

The Gourrier family also has supported many community-based Kwanzaa events. "In the last five years it has grown tremendously," Kim Gourrier said. "So many people come out, young and old alike ... and celebrate who they are. That's what Kwanzaa is about."

The point of the celebration to her, she said, is to show that personal awareness can lead to better things in a community. "Once you have pride within yourself you are then (able to) move forward with who you are."

Her father agrees. "We went through an entire ceremony describing each symbol. That's what we as parents have to do to create the strong fabric of our ethnic (community) in this society," Alfred Gourrier said of how Kwanzaa instills values in his children. "We have to communicate with our children our values and principles."

Through its seven principles, Kwanzaa is meant to instill purpose and pride in people who practice it throughout the year, he said. "The celebration of Kwanzaa is significant to us as African-American people because it gives to us a moral code to live by."

Kwanzaa, he said, has given him and his family a strong foundation from which to grow as individuals. "The idea is for us to live these principles throughout the remainder of the year."

Marsha Robinson, director of the West Las Vegas Arts Center, began practicing Kwanzaa five years ago as a means to connect with and celebrate her community. "When we create community we empower ourselves," she said.

Since she started at the center in 1995, she said she has found that Kwanzaa brings the community together.

"There are more people calling (the center regarding Kwanzaa) and we have a booklet (to offer) so people can understand Kwanzaa," Robinson said. "It really gives the African-American community a sense of identity."

Kwanzaa, she said, emphasizes the importance of knowing a personal history and the lessons of learned by ancestors. By understanding their history, she said, people can better understand themselves.

"(Kwanzaa) makes me reflect on my ancestors, and (that) they have gone through a lot of obstacles," Robinson said. "I make a determination through their determination to make me a better person."

Ulysses Palrose is a Kwanzaa teacher who conducts classes annually for through the city of Las Vegas at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center. The classes were held for three days earlier this month.

"It's a celebration of family, community and culture," Palrose said.

His first Kwanzaa experience was 10 years ago when a college friend invited him to some events. He was inspired to embrace Kwanzaa and educate the community through annual classes conducted through the City of Las Vegas about the celebration.

"That's where my spirit was, interested in doing something to try to turn things around in the black community," Palrose said. "It gives us a sense of purpose. It gives us a sense of our history."

Kwanzaa hleps him to focus on being a better person throughout the year, he said. "It reminds us to live the seven principles throughout the year, to believe in our own self-determination."