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Kwanzaa In Avon Park

Gary Pinnell/Highlands Today

Pat Owens holds an African mask, one of dozens of African items she brought to the Kwanzaa celebration in Avon Park.

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: December 29, 2008

AVON PARK - After everyone else marked Christmas in Highlands County, one family observed Kwanzaa.

"It started in Tallahassee," said Pat White. "My family there has celebrated it for years. We've had Kwanzaa here in Avon Park for 12 years. We used to have it at my house."

On Saturday night, the party was in the Avon Park Rotary Club building on Verona Street, with about 45 people. "They're my family and friends," White said.

For the uninitiated, White said, Kwanzaa is simply a joyous African-American holiday, a time to get together with family and friends.

Holiday History

African-American scholar and social activist Maulana Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first African-American holiday. His goal was to give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history. It is now observed worldwide by 18 million people, according to the New York Times.

The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza - first fruits. The weeklong event focuses on traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. The seven guiding principles, each celebrated on one day of the event, are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

Kwanzaa is neither political nor religious, and is not a substitute for Christmas, according to the website tike.com. Some of the symbols of Kwanzaa are black, green and red candles, a placemat of straw, fruits and vegetables, ears of corn to reflect children, and gifts that are enriching.

Kwanzaa celebrators often dress in African costumes, and White said, her family usually does.

Kwanzaa began on Dec. 26 and ends on Jan. 1.

Highlands Today reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5828

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