Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The art and beauty you find on the outside of WorldBeat Cultural Center can also be found on the inside and in everything the center does.
Makeda Cheatom is the 81-years-young founder and executive director of WorldBeat Cultural Center, and she just kicked off a week of Kwanzaa events.
"Oh, man, I got so much going on here," Cheatom said.
WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park has been sharing music, art, dance and Black culture since 1995. On Tuesday, it kicked off a week of events celebrating Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa is the annual holiday created in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage. Sharing that history and those cultural connections is something Worldbeat does all year long to provide the perfect place to celebrate.
"We're sending you all the love that you can handle. Happy Kwanzaa. Harambe, harambe, harambe!" Cheatom said. "That means let's band together as a people — as a whole — and that's what Kwanzaa gives us, seven days so we can come and reaffirm our love and commitment to each other and have Imani, faith."
Kwanzaa is also closely tied to food and harvesting, which is essential to Cheatom. She grows the food she serves at WorldBeat and will be serving for Karamu.
"That's the feast, and you got to have the feast," Cheatom said enthusiastically. "You've got black-eyed peas, you've got potato salad, and look at those collard greens out of the garden. When you come here, you get to eat food from our garden."
"The food is phenomenal," Monica Harris added.
Harris should know. For 12 years, her Diva Works Dance Studio has been producing children’s shows at WorldBeat as part of its Kwanzaa celebration.
"I keep going back to the idea of oneness and unity and roots and culture," Harris said. "That is the key and central value in Kwanzaa, in terms of the African American community remembering its African roots. However, things like self-determination, cooperative economics, working together — these kinds of values, family, love, friendship, those are all parts of Kwanzaa."
She will be finding those values Wednesday night as her youth company stages a reimagining of the 1971 film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory."
"That story, whenever I mention it to anyone that we're producing it, the first thing we see is a smile and the joyfulness in that film," Harris said.
The joyfulness of her partnership with Worldbeat reflects one of the key principles of Kwanzaa.
"Ujima," Cheatom said. "Collective work and responsibility to work together. My mother used to bake a cake with no ingredients. She would go borrow from this lady, borrow from this house down here. That's collective work and responsibility."
Another principle will be highlighted on Friday.
"Ujamaa, it's cooperative economics," CheatomS said. "It's having business together and sharing. That's what we're doing here. We're going to bring people in and share where to get your grants. Financial literacy, which is really important among us as a people, because we don't know some of those things. And some of the grants and things have been kept from us. So we're going to be teaching about financial literacy."
Cheatom also explained two other important principles of Kwanzaa.
"Kujichagulia, it means self-determination," Cheatom said. "We have to have self-determination as a race. Identify yourself. Give yourself your own dignity. Self-determination. And then nia, purpose. What is your purpose in life?"
Cheatom’s purpose is to provide a space to highlight Black culture and art, dance, music, and food. You can savor a free vegan meal every night through Sunday at WorldBeat as part of its Kwanzaa celebration. Plus, there will be nightly ceremonial candle lighting, as well as performers and guest speakers.
The full schedule of events is online.
