SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - January 1, 2021 marks the seventh and final day of Kwanzaa, a cultural holiday celebrating the African-American community. The WorldBeat Cultural Center in San Diego always hosts daily celebrations during the week-long holiday, but had to make adjustments because of the pandemic.
“It had to be done. It had to be done, what do we do?” said WorldBeat Center Executive Director Makeda Dread Cheatom.
They, like many others, turned to a virtual event, which ended up working in their favor because of the wider audience they could reach.
“Everyone in the world gets to see Kwanzaa and all the things we do virtually. So there’s a blessing. There’s always a blessing,” said Cheatom.
Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa has a theme. Day one is unity, day two is self determination, day three is collective work and responsibility, day four is cooperative economics, day five is purpose, day six is creativity and day seven is faith.
“It’s a cultural holiday that celebrates the good,” she said.
Cheatom said after a year of conversations surrounding race and equality, these are lessons that should be celebrated because of the emphasis on positivity within the African-American community.
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“We have to turn this around. Black, white, red or yellow, we are all together as one. We’re one race, we’re the human race, there’s no other,” said Cheatom.
The virtual, nightly events can be found on the WorldBeat Culture Center Facebook’s page here.
