Kwanzaa kick-off echoes calls to value black life

(pictured above: Zen Sadler (center) helps Don Williams and Patricia Sadler light the Kwanzaa kinara.)

The recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police was at the forefront on the first night of Kwanzaa (Friday, Dec. 26) at the Winston-Salem Urban League.

“I know all of our hearts are heavy and we’re deeply concerned about what’s happening to our young African-American males and women, as well,” said keynote speaker Rev. Dr. John Mendez, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church and a noted community activist.

“Uniting to Save Our Sons” was the night’s theme, tying Umoja or Unity, the principle of the first night of Kwanzaa, into recent events.

Mendez acknowledged that blacks have made progress over the decades, but said the drugs and the laws established to punish drug offenders are crippling the community and filling prisons with young black men.

Mendez

“The War on Drugs, particularly in the African-American community, makes all of us victims of police brutality and misconduct,” he said.

In his remarks, Interim Urban League President Don Williams said protests proclaiming that “Black Lives Matter” remind him of those that brought Civil Rights victories to bear in the past.

“Millions of Americans have now taken to the streets and to social media, not because the problems that have caused the outrage just began yesterday, but because difficult circumstances present a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring about historic change, and that time is now,” he said.

Wake Forest University Religion Professor Stephen Boyd, who accepted a Kwanzaa Unity award, said he is hopeful that the fledgling new justice movement will have legs and success.

“In Africa, there’s a proverb that when spiders unite, they can tie up a lion,” he said. “And that’s where we are right now; we’re in the face of a lion, and it looks fierce and it looks like it’s going to win, but it will not.”

Deloris Wylie gives Stephen Boyd his award.

Boyd, a former Urban League Board member and a founder of Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment (C.H.A.N.G.E.), has penned a book about the wrongful conviction of Darryl Hunt and is co-chair of the Silk Plant Forest Truth Committee, which found the conviction of Kalvin Michael Smith lacked credible evidence. A unity award also went to Anderson Alumni Association Diggs-Latham Male Mentoring Program, in which alumni of the now defunct Anderson High School mentor students in grades 2nd through 5th at Diggs-Latham.

The kick-off event was replete with festive Kwanzaa traditions. Program participants marched in to the sounds of African instruments and ended the program with their hands joined while chanting “Harambee!” The traditional Kwanzaa greeting “Habari Gani” could also be heard. Performers include members of Authoring Action, mime performer Antwian Scriven and the Otesha Creative Arts Ensemble.

Otesha Creative Arts Ensemble

Antwian Scriven performs.

Among those taking it all in were Tandice and Josue Jean Baptiste of Atlanta who were in town to visit Tandice’s family. It was Josue’s first Kwanzaa, while Tandice has attended local Kwanzaa events for most of the last decade.

Tandice and Josue Jean Baptiste

“It’s always a nice activity to come to after Christmas, just because it focuses so much on family and rebuilding,” she said. “It removes you from the materialistic aspects of the holidays.”

The final day of Kwanzaa, focusing on Imani (Faith), is being held Thursday, Jan. 1) at 4 p.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 1075 Shalimar Drive.