2008 Woodie Awards
Festival of Lights recognizes three holidays
Amie Lara
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: News
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"The Festival of Lights, formerly Hanging of the Green, is a holiday celebration recognizing the three major December holidays: Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah," said Dr. Monique Robinson-Wright, director of student life and diversity initiatives.
"Part of the college's mission is to provide students with a global education. Thus, learning about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah will enhance the overall education of our students and increase their appreciation of the rich diversity of cultures," Robinson-Wright continued.
"This is my first year to attend the festival. We will have the lighting of the tree," said Gina Garera, coordinator of student activities.
There will be cookies, hot chocolate, sweet potato pie, wassail and latkes to eat said Robinson-Wright.
"Kwanzaa is a non-religious African American holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. It is celebrated for seven days from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.," according to www.history.com.
"Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966. After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, Dr. Karenga searched for ways to bring African-Americans together as a community," as stated on www.history.com.
"Karenga combined aspects of several different harvest celebrations, such as those of the Ashanti and those of the Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa," www.history.com continues.
"The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase 'matunda ya kwanza' which means 'first fruits' in Swahili. The kinara is the center of the Kwanzaa setting and represents the original stalk from which we came: our ancestry. An African feast, called a Karamu, is held on Dec. 31," according to www.history.com.
"Hanukkah is the annual Jewish festival celebrated on eight successive days beginning on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding, approximately, to December in the Gregorian calendar," as stated at www.history.com.
"It is also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 B.C. after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine," also according to www.history.com.
The festival will have Vol State organizations in attendance said Garera.
Each of Vol State's organizations will hang an ornament on the tree and deliver a brief speech.
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