{"id":309,"date":"2018-12-31T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999933061"},"modified":"2018-12-31T07:00:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T15:00:18","slug":"in-pictures-more-than-400-people-attended-the-29th-annual-long-beach-kwanzaa-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/in-pictures-more-than-400-people-attended-the-29th-annual-long-beach-kwanzaa-celebration","title":{"rendered":"IN PICTURES: More than 400 people attended the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 400 people attended the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Kwanzaa honors African American culture and is observed from December 26 through January 1.\u00a0\u00a0This year\u2019s event included performances by the Dembrebrah drum and dance company, spoken word artist Shy But Flyy, Street Corner Renaissance and Baba The Story Teller.<\/p>\n

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, currently the chair of Africana Studies at Cal State Long Beach. The word Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase meaning \u201cfirst fruits of the harvest.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Seven candles are lit to celebrate what Karenga calls the seven principals of Kwanzaa, the best of African thought and practice.<\/p>\n

The event was coordinated by Max Viltz of the Afrikan Cultural Research & Study Group. She said that this year\u2019s Kwanzaa celebration drew the most people in the organization\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a resurgence of pride in the African American community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s because we\u2019re becoming aware that racism is becoming worse.\u00a0\u00a0People are recording racist incidents and we\u2019re watching them (on social media),\u201d Viltz said.\u00a0\u201cBlack people are being told where they can and cannot be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viltz said that the increase in racism is coming from the top. \u201cThe administration is saying that racism is okay,\u201d she said. \u201cSo now, more than ever, people are longing to learn of our rich African culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Victor Pearson shouts a Kwanzaa chant at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration on Sunday, December 30, 2018 at Expo Arts Center in Long Beach. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/p>\n

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Zion Smith lights a kinara candle. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A member of the Dembrebrah Dancers performs at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration.\u00a0Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A member of the Dembrebrah Dancers performs at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Azelie Claude lights the kinara candle.\u00a0Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Adisa and Sakkara Anderson help three girls on lighting the kinara candle at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Spoken word performer Shy But Flyy gets a hug from fellow performer Subject Matter at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration.Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Olufemi and Max Viltz perform the Libation ceremony.\u00a0Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hanif Riley plays drums as part of the Dembrebrah performance group.\u00a0Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Dembrebrah drummers perform.\u00a0Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A member of the Dembrebrah Dancers performs at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A member of the Dembrebrah Dancers performs.\u00a0Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A member of the Dembrebrah Dancers performs at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration.Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Moya Mzuri sang the South African National Anthem at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration.Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Long Beach council member Al Austin II spoke at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration.Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The artist Enkone was producing one of his paintings during the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration on Sunday, December 30, 2018 at Expo Arts Center in Long Beach. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Babajohn Beatty sings a song at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Grandma Mae’s Doll Collection was one of the art vendors at the 29th Annual Long Beach Kwanzaa Celebration. Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kwanzaa honors African American culture and is observed from December 26 through January 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":65836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3,201],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-instagram","tag-kwanzaa","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=309"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}