45th Annual Kwanzaa Celebration: December 27th, Kujichagulia
45th Annual Kwanzaa Celebration
Doors 6pm | Program 6:30PM
WorldBeat Cultural Center invites the community to celebrate its 45th Annual Kwanzaa, honoring four of the seven days of this African American cultural holiday rooted in African traditions. Observed from December 26 to January 1, Kwanzaa centers on the Nguzo Saba—the Seven Principles: Umoja-Unity, Kujichagulia- Self-Determination, Ujima – Collective Work & Responsibility, Ujamaa – Cooperative Economics, Nia – Purpose, Kuumba – Creativity, and Imani – Faith.
Each evening features ceremonial candle lighting, libations, African drumming, poetry, music, and reflections from featured speakers and performers aligned with the night’s principle. Guests will also share in the Karamu, the traditional Kwanzaa feast plate, featuring black-eyed peas, collard greens, gumbo, potato salad, and corn muffins. This year’s celebration also launches the inaugural Kwanzaa Awards, honoring individuals whose work embodies the values of the Nguzo Saba. All events are free, family-friendly, and open to the public. Advance RSVP encouraged.
Each evening will be hosted by MC Selah Black Sol and Sidiqa Hooker
Day 2: Saturday, December 27th: Kujichagulia- Self-Determination
Keynote Speaker and Performance
Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black
Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black, a 2025 Pulitzer Prize–winning author and historian at Carnegie Mellon University, is a leading scholar of West African rice farmers and the African Diaspora, known for works such as Deep Roots and the co-edited Rice: Global Networks and New Histories. She has consulted for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and is the executive producer and librettist of the contemporary classical work Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice. Her latest book, COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War, uncovers Tubman’s overlooked role as a military spy and commander during the raid that freed 756 enslaved people—the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history. A descendant of Africans enslaved on South Carolina rice plantations and a U.S. Colored Troops soldier who fought in the raid, Fields-Black’s work bridges continents as she illuminates Gullah Geechee history, culture, and language through interdisciplinary research in the Low Country and West Africa.
Mariea Antoinette
Harpist Mariea Antoinette returns with her signature fusion of classical mastery and contemporary soul. Her dynamic, genre-bending style elevates every stage with warmth, virtuosity, and innovation.
This year also marks the inauguration of the Annual Kwanzaa Awards, honoring individuals whose work reflects the values of the Nguzo Saba, including Chuck Ambers, founder of the African Museum Casa del Rey Moro, Maria Lane, San Diego’s First Samba Instructor, Johnnierenee Nia Nelson, WorldBeat Center’s Poet Laurette. Dennis Newsome, Capoeira Angola Mestre, Starla Lewis, global teacher of self-love and Prince Habib, President of African-American Writers & Artists.
