The Roanoker-November/December 2021 - 79

Left page, from left to right: Dhimant
Sheth and his wife, Dr. Pragna Sheth,
dressed for a Diwali celebration; Sydney
Tova Brenner lights the menorah to
celebrate Hannukah; young Saniyah Penn
participates in a Kwanzaa observance in
2019; local dancers perform as part of a
2019 Kwanzaa celebration.
would get together, sing songs, play
instruments, drum rhythms and
just enjoy good laughs and food
... All of that has been something
we honor and celebrate in our traditions
as our family. "
So when she moved to Roaher
family-that's the branched
candelabra reserved specifically for
sacred use-and to master the art of
a good latke-an addictively crispy
fried pancake often made from
shredded potatoes or root vegetables.
Most of all, though, she hopes
to celebrate the holiday at home in
Roanoke, with the close-knit Jewish
community she's built.
Still, if that's not possible, she
says, she looks forward to sharing
her holiday traditions with others,
even if they aren't familiar with
them.
" I really am influenced by my
childhood, " says Brenner. " It's important,
because I carry those values
with me. " If that means observing
Hanukkah with those whose
backgrounds are different, " I think
that's always going to be a thing,
because I've done that since I was
little ... I know that they'll feel
comfortable celebrating with me,
and I'll feel comfortable observing
their holidays and explaining
to them the importance of Hanukkah
... and what being Jewish
means to me. "
Kwanzaa: a Time to
Educate...and Celebrate
For Bernadette Lark, founder
and creative director of CommUNITY
ARTS-reach, celebrating
Kwanzaa is only natural. In fact,
it's how she was raised.
" I am an Ogeechee Gullah.
That means I grew up in the Low
Country of South Carolina on the
border of Georgia, " she says. " We
TheRoanoker.com
noke 16 years ago, it felt important
for Lark to share the Kwanzaa observance
in her new home-first in
small groups of friends and family,
and later in larger community
gatherings she helped organize so
people could learn more about the
holiday's significance.
" I believe this work is important, "
she says. " It's a time to educate,
celebrate and empower. "
Kwanzaa celebrated its 50th
birthday in 2016. Initially created
in 1966 as a way for Black
Americans to celebrate their history,
heritage and culture, much of
Kwanzaa is modeled after various
African harvest festivals. In fact,
the word " Kwanzaa " itself comes
from a Swahili phrase that means
" first fruits. "
And while the holiday might
be relatively young, its roots run
deep.
" It came from a place of pain, "
Lark says-long decades in which
the Black community in America
suffered under slavery, discrimination
and economic hardship. In response
to that, she says, Kwanzaa
offers an opportunity to do something
powerful: celebrate in the
face of it.
" The most powerful significance
is the fact that we can celebrate, "
she says. " When you can
pull healing from pain, that's worth
celebrating in and of itself. "
Each year, families who celebrate
Kwanzaa enjoy reflecting,
gathering and learning together
from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, with a daily
candle-lighting ceremony on the
kinara, or candelabra. Each of the
seven days commemorates a different
principle, with time for groups
to discuss what the day's principle
means for them.
On December 26, the observances
kick off with a discussion
of umoja, or unity.
" That is very important, " Lark
says. " That's the key-striving to
unite. "
On day two, participants can
discuss kujichagulia, or self-determination,
and on day three, they
learn about ujima - collective work
and responsibility.
" That's where we are working
collectively and taking what a lot
of people call 'responsibility,' but I
teach my students accountability, "
Lark says. " What are you doing to
maintain this spirit of unity and
self-determination which we celebrated
on the days prior? "
On day four, participants learn
about ujamaa, or cooperative economics- " building,
not tearing
down; supporting, not separating, "
she says, and on day five, they
discuss nia, or purpose. " You move
past the cooperative, moving into
the sense of community development, "
Lark explains. " I like to look
at that as infrastructure, how you
restore people to their greatness
that was lost, maybe, through the
devastation that had occurred. "
As a community arts educator,
Lark can't help but get excited
about day six's principle, which
is kuumba, or creativity - something
she believes every human
can access.
" We can all be creative in our
own ways to make it more beautiful
and beneficial than when we
first got here, " she says. " If I see
something as simple as me moving
into a community where there
may be litter, I have the power to
be creative ... I can grab a bag and
a stick and I can go and make this
beautiful. "
And on day seven, " We always
end with faith. That's imani, "
Lark says. " There is a moral side-
and some people would call it a
righteous side-that we must hold
onto to obtain victories through
struggles. "
But for Lark, perhaps the
most important of all of Kwanzaa's
themes is that of harvest-a
motif she believes has the power
to change communities in important
ways.
" Most people, when you hear
'harvest,' they only think of planting
and plucking, " she says. " No.
Harvesting means that you, as a
community, invest in the ground
that you live on. You invest time
and sweat and memories into
planting seeds and waiting and
watching for good things to sprout.
You then unite to harvest those
crops. "
Growing up, Lark was raised
in an agricultural community,
one without significant violence,
and she attributes that to the surrounding
green spaces. Those green
spaces taught community members
about collaboration, sharing, and
caring for their community, she
says, and it affected her deeply.
" I grew up with my grandmother.
Their farm was across
from sugar cane fields, " she remembers.
" I could walk some eggs
down to my neighbor... another
group would bring back milk. "
Investing in the community
and sharing the harvest are deeply
important values to Lark-enough
so that she recently helped CommUNITY
ARTS-reach partner
with Carver Gardens in an attempt
to teach young people how
they might (literally) seed into
their neighborhood, growing food
together over the course of six to
twelve weeks.
" We've got to get back to understanding
this harvesting principle,
and the green spaces and what
they represent in so many communities, "
she says. " That might be the
driving force to get the violence
out... because you care about each
other and you want the community
to be a place of peace and unity. I
so badly want that for Roanoke. "
As Lark prepares for another
year of opportunities to share
the importance of Kwanzaa, she's
moved by the ways she's been able
to share the principles that mean
November/December 2021 79
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The Roanoker-November/December 2021

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