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Miles'Ville Meets Kwanzaa 2002
EAST ST. LOUIS, (SWI-news.com), December 8, 2002 - Raising individual and community spirits, promoting self-determination, and encouraging creativity ("resourcefulness") are aims of an annual Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration slated for December 17, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm, in the City Council Chambers of the East St. Louis Municipal Building, 301 River Park Drive. The annual program is sponsored by the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club.

Officially celebrated from December 26-January 1, Kwanzaa was founded in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of Black Studies at California State University Long Beach. Kwanzaa extols the "Nguzo Saba," or "seven principles," including "cooperative economics" and "faith," and is practiced by over 20 million people worldwide.

African derived, but adjusted by Karenga to fit the needs of African Americans and others in the "African Diaspora," Kwanzaa has been practiced in the East St. Louis area since its inception.

A highlight of this year's Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration is the "Kwansaba Candle-Lighting Ritual" by members of the writers club's Soular System Ensemble. The ritual includes recitation of the "kwansaba," a seven-line poem invented by the group in the mid-1990s.

Members of the Soular Systems Ensemble, accompanied by master drummer Sylvester Sunshine Lee, include Bala Baptiste, Sheryl Johnson, Sherman Fowler, Christienne Hinz, Roscoe Crenshaw, Darlene Roy, Evon Udoh, Bruce Petty, Patricia Merritt, Cheryl D.S. Walker, Marcus "Ma'at" Atkins, John Haynes, Sandra English, and Eugene B. Redmond. Also performing will be K. Curtis Lyle, former member of the famed Watts Writers Workshop.

An open mic segment will welcome poets, teachers, students, clergy, family members and other residents to "testify" about personal or community history, blessings, needs and dreams. Books, gifts and cards will be on sale at an accompanying arts bazaar.

"Pre-Kwanzaa" continues a year-long celebration of the writers club's 16th birthday. Trustees of the group include Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Barbara Ann Teer, Avery Brooks, and Dr. Lena Weathers. Venues in which Soular Systems Ensemble has performed include the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, The Katherine Dunham 90th Birthday Celebration at State Community College in East St. Louis, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, and Madame C. J. Walker Theater in Indianapolis.

Among sponsors: Drumvoices Revue, East St. Louis Cultural Revival Campaign Committee, Renaissance Literary Arts Press, SIUE English Department, Annual Miles Davis Arts Festival Advisory Board, Black River Writers Press. For information call 618 650-3991 or write EBR Writers Club at P.O. Box 6165, East St. Louis, IL. 62202.

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