This year we will host our 2nd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration on December 29, 2018 at the Trenton War Memorial Building.
The Smith Family Foundation of New Jersey & #IAMTHECHANGE will be hosting our Inaugural community Kwanzaa Celebration on December 29, 2018. Kwanzaa is observed from December 26th through January 1st, with each day dedicated to one of the 7 principles of the Nguzo Saba. This years Kwanzaa event will be celebrating the principle Umoja: Unity, highlighting the need for our communities to build and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
We had the honor of having social entrepreneur and executive director of the Arts council of Princeton (ACP), Taneshia Nash-Laird as our keynote speaker, who spoke on the fourth principle, Ujamaa and how it relates to our community, her topic was Cooperative Economic Empowerment.
The Trenton YMCA, graciously hosted our event and we had a special guest performances from The Trenton Children’s Chorus, the Trenton Educational Dance Institute (TEDI), as well as our very own, #IAMTHECHANGE youth, Makeda Nunnally, Jourdan and Zuriel Reyes of Girls Out Loud!, Makhy, Elise.,Kahmale, and Na’Seant Smith, Joshua Ross, Tyshawn Bowen, and Brandon Cheek of Youth Council, and Chris McCray of Youth Turn all participated as volunteers and performers honoring our community, our elders and our youth.
This year we will host our 2nd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration on December 29, 2018 at the Trenton War Memorial Building. If you are interested in being on the planning committee, performing, or being a vendor please contact our office at 609.888.6300 or info@sffnj.org.
The 7 Principles of Kwanzaa
1. Umoja: Unity
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
2. Kujichagulia: Self-Determination:
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
3. Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility
To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and solve them together.
4. Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics
To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
5. Nia: Purpose
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
6. Kuumba: Creativity
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
7. Imani: Faith
To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
