The Student Leadership Center will host a celebration of dance, music, food, family unity and community spirit on Saturday, Nov. 17 during Sinclair’s annual Pre-Kwanzaa event.
Pre-Kwanzaa will run from 5 to 8:30 p.m. in the Student Leadership Center in the Lower Level of Building 8. The event is hosted by the African–American Studies and Cultural Diversity Committee and admission is free.
The event’s theme of “Maintaining the Family Unity and Revitalizing the Community,” holds special meaning to Dr. Boikai Twe, chairperson of the Psychology and African Studies Department. Twe first celebrated Kwanzaa at Sinclair’s original Pre-Kwanzaa event and credits Sinclair students for introducing him to the holiday.
“The students invited one of the elders of the community to come to Sinclair to celebrate Kwanzaa and that was the first time I had celebrated Kwanzaa,” Twe said. “It taught me that you can learn things from students and the community. We live in a community where, if you keep your eyes open, your life can be enriched by the community and the students around you.”
Guest speaker Mary L. Baker, a retired City of Dayton police officer, who now works part-time in the Sinclair Police Department, plans to echo Twe’s sentiments of celebrating community while stressing the importance of family values.
“ I believe in planning for tomorrow, planning out my life and I want to talk about my children, how I raised them and I want to talk about my grandchildren,” Baker said. “My message is maintaining the family unit.”
Since February of 2005, Baker has patrolled the hallways and commons areas of Sinclair, interacting with countless students along the way. During her time at Sinclair, Baker has used her interactions as a way of reminding students about the role education plays in their lives.
“When I walk and talk with students, I try to emphasize the importance of an education,” Baker said. “Not only are students competing with people here in the United States of America, but they’re competing on an international level. Over in Egypt, they have language schools and you can learn any language that you want. When I look at different countries, I’m seeing that they’re educating their young people to go out into the world and work.”
The musical portion of the event will include a performance by local musician Victor Pate, who co-leads the group Unified Swag Theory, along with bassist and Music Director Luther Wright III. Pate describes his and Wright’s sound as hip-hop jazz.
“It’s something people can bob their head to,” Pate said, who plays guitar and guitar synthesizer for the group.
In addition to Unified Swag Theory, Pre-Kwanzaa will also feature acts by Memories of Africa featuring Maiya Calhoun, a family band that specializes in African-American and Folk music and Kuumba Drama-Drum & Dance Company. They have performed at Pre-Kwanzaa for the past 10 years, Twe said.
Along with the three scheduled musical performances, those attending Pre-Kwanzaa will be treated to Karamu, a Swahili term for feast. Twe said the feast will be a soul food dinner, where members of the community will bring dishes of food to share that consist mainly of traditional African-American foods, such as black-eyed peas and collard greens.
For more information, contact Twe at 512-2913.