Fewer Kwanzaa activities this year

The 2021 Kwanzaa celebrations in Barbados will be limited this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

General Secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (CMPI) David Denny, one of the organizers of the programme, told members of the media during a press conference at the police outpost in Haynesville, St James that despite the tradition that has been followed for many years, events for the December 26 to January 1 period will not be held every day.

“But what we will do is we will organise two days – the beginning and the ending of Kwanzaa. We will start the Kwanzaa programme from the Ivy, St Michael on Blenheim pasture next to the community centre. And that activity will be on the 26th of December.

“What we will do is we will have a cultural show with some speeches but it will be dedicated to the community in terms of building and strengthening the Ivy community as a family and also recognising Barbados as a republic,” he explained.

The Israel Lovell Foundation along with poets and other artistes will also perform and leading Pan Africanists will speak, followed by a social event for the community, Denny added.

Kwanzaa is a secular festival observed by African Americans in celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.

The CMPI is organising the activities here along with the Haynesville Youth Club, Cuban Barbadian Friendship Association, Friends of Venezuela Solidarity Committee (Barbados) and the Israel Lovell Foundation.

Peter Skeete of the Haynesville Youth Club said the progressive community-based organization was pleased to be involved in yet another Kwanzaa programme.

He said on January 1, to end the celebrations, members of the club will entertain residents with a small parade through the community.

“So, we will be stopping at strategic points to showcase some of the younger members of our club with their talent. And then we will be ending here at the police post with some more speeches from our Pan African brothers.

“We do this to let the community see their members who they have committed themselves to over the years, and their parents can see them actually performing in the heart of the community which for many years has been challenged with a negative stigma,” Skeete said.

Meantime, he disclosed that about 11 students had benefited from the club’s online school supervision programme held at the outpost and the children’s end-of-term reports showed significant improvement in their academic performance. (AH)