Kwanzaa In the Hood

Brother Ced here, and Kwanzaa is on my mind. Kwanzaa ceremonies are usually held in the most likely of places. Shape Community Center. The Third Ward Community Center. Hester House. These are some of the old guard African American community organizations here in Houston that have been fighting for the respect of our culture for decades. I’ve often sat at Kwanzaa ceremonies over the years and felt a sense of unease seeing the same old faces in these same old places. So soon after helping to establish Writer’s Ink, I had an epiphany: a program idea I dubbed Poets Kwanzaa, the very first program of Writer’s Ink besides Houston Poetry Slam.

The first Poets Kwanzaa was in 2006. We weren’t able to do it in 2007, but this 2008 winter season Poets Kwanzaa is back where it started: Mr. A’s the Club.

Mr. A’s the Club is a venerable shake-your-booty speak easy in the Kashmere Garden area. Normally the scene of weekend good times, it becomes a poetry spot during the week. Poetry In the Hood has been going on for several years now under the guidance of local spoken word poet and hype man Black Snow. “I wanted to take poetry to the hood, man.” And it worked.

That’s what inspired me to take Kwanzaa to the hood. We have to stop preaching to the choir about Umoja and Ujamaa and start to practice the principles. One can and should enjoy Kwanzaa anywhere that African Americans gather. How else will the seven principles of Kwanzaa become ingrained and passed on to future generations? And what better place to start than Mr. A’s. The very first poets Kwanzaa was well received in 2006. No doubt this 2008 season will be just as exciting.

Join us for Poets Kwanzaa this December 30th, and celebrate Kwanzaa in the hood. Check out the link in our “Upcoming Events” for time and a map to Mr. A’s.