SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- African-Americans in the U.S. city of San Francisco Thursday kicked off the annual Kwanzaa celebrations with this year's theme focused on unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Featuring traditional African drumming, songs and dances, the 2019 seven-day celebrations of the Kwanzaa, a unique non-religious, African cultural event in the United States that highlighted traditional African values, were participated by San Francisco government representatives, African community leaders, artists and kids.
Adrian Williams, executive director of the youth service group The Village Project, the leading organizer of the event, said the celebrations of Kwanzaa, which have continued for 14 years in San Francisco, are growing throughout the Bay Area, as Kwanzaa will be observed for the first time this year in Oakland and other Bay Area cities.
De'Anthony Jones, an official with San Francisco Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, said he spoke on behalf of Mayor London Breed who encouraged the attendees and African people "to live, not just celebrate" the values of Kwanzaa -- unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, and creativity.
He urged African people to get united to fight for their rights because "what is gotten this country in trouble is that they weren't true to what they said on paper."
"When we think about institutions like slavery, where America was founded, trying to free themselves from oppression from the British, only to oppress a whole group of people," he told the audience at City Hall in downtown city.
Dorothy Tsuruta, a professor and former chair of Africana Studies of San Francisco State University, made a keynote speech at the event, underscoring the huge contributions of African people to the world.
"The whole world has benefited from the fruits of African American brilliance," including music and athletes, she said.
Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor at California State University, Long Beach. The event starts on the day after Christmas and ends on New Year's Day.
