Kwanzaa Proclamation by City of Pomona
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POMONA, Calif. - Californer -- Join the Mayor and City Council of the City of Pomona as they call upon the community to collectively recognize the season of Kwanzaa, a celebration of family, community and culture. Join in this historic proclamation at the City Council meeting on Monday, December 16, 2019 at 6pm located at 505 Garey Ave, Pomona, CA 91766.

The first celebration of Kwanzaa was in 1966, an African-American and Pan-African holiday established by Dr. Maulana Karenga, celebrating family, community and culture. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza" meaning "first fruits" and is an African celebration of the first harvests.

Kwanzaa is a 7-day celebration observed December 26th thru January 1st, reflecting on seven principles known as the Nguzo Saba – Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. This celebration provides an opportunity for people of African heritage, regardless of their religious background or faith, to build on the five fundamental activities of Continental African "first fruit" celebrations: ingathering, reverence, commemoration, recommitment, and celebration. Kwanzaa is...

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• a time of gathering of the people to reaffirm the bonds between them.
• a time of special reverence for the Creator and creations in thanks and respect for the blessings, bounty, and beauty of creation.
• a time for commemoration of the past, time to pause and respectfully remember the lives, teach the lessons, raise up, and recommit to honor our ancestors and their legacy.
• a time to recommit to the highest cultural ideas and integrity, to ground and enrich our lives, strengthen in the struggle, expand consciousness, and bring forth the best of African cultural thought and practice.
• a time for celebration of all the good; the good of family, of community, of culture, of life, of love, of listening gently, generously, and joyously to each other and responding accordingly; the good of sisterhood, brotherhood, friendship, marriage and all relations; the expansive and enduring good of the world and all in it.

City of Pomona will also play host to the inaugural Kwanzaa Joy Celebration on Sunday, December 29, 2019, an all-day event to engage our African-American community and comes as the City of Pomona, a Compassionate City, celebrates diversity and inclusion of cultural holidays through public recognition.

Visit http://kwanzaajoy.com/ for more information and follow @kwanzaajoy on Facebook and Instagram for the latest details on the full-day Kwanzaa Joy Celebration.