I Pledge Allegiance to my People. The Afrikan Race. The Original Man and Woman of the earth, and the Founders of Civilization.
I Pledge to continue the struggle, which will help to bring my beloved Brothers and Sisters to total freedom.
I Pledge to study and discipline myself mentally and physically so I may grow into a soldier for justice, because my people need strong and intelligent warriors.
I Pledge to live my life standing tall, for a person on his knees is not respected. If I am challenged, I must say that I will not surrender my position or my dignity, but instead I will endure until the final victory is won
Now more than ever all the brothers must come together.
Every brother, every where- must feel the time is in the air.
Common blood flows thru common veins and common eyes all see the same.
Now more than ever all the brothers must come together.
Gil Scott Heron
LP “Winter in America
Peace go with you, brother
(As-Salaam-Alaikum)
October 15, 1973
n the late 1960s when Albert James Parks Jr. heard the rhythms of an African drum, he was captivated and set out to learn about traditional African culture.
That mission led him to found a group of dancers, drummers and storytellers that evolved into Griots Wa Umoja (folklores of unity), a group that continues to perform in greater Wilmington.
In 1968, he also held what is believed to be the the first local Kwanzaa celebration, later creating a "first fruits" celebration for the wider African-American community. Now each year in the city, he helps plan the seven-day Kwanzaa festival.
As part of his commitment to traditional culture, the 61-year-old Parks has taken an African name. He is known today as "Baba" Kamau Ngom, his wife "Mama" Viola Njeri.
They were married in 1972 at one of the first African weddings in the city. In the years since, they've raised five children and taught African culture to youth and adults at neighborhood centers.
"We've always felt that bringing the community together under positive conditions was a plus worth striving for," Ngom said.
When did you discover African culture?
I got out of the service in 1967 and found there was a lot going on in the country in terms of cultural awareness. Black people were studying African traditions and I loved it. I was 25 or 26 years old.
To learn about African culture after not knowing anything was overwhelming. Some of us started meeting to talk about what we were learning.
Did you meet people from Africa?
Yes, there was an African man, an exchange student, we saw on channel 12. His name was Thembi, and he was from Cameroon. We became very, very close. He would cook for us and teach us about his culture.
What was next?
Drum class. A friend told me there was an elderly man at Christiana Cultural Arts Center who had been a professional dancer before he had been in a car accident and broke his hip. He was John Hines, now deceased.
He knew about Haitian songs and Cuban culture. My wife learned dancing. I learned drumming.
It wasn't long before we would perform in public, and people would come talk to us about what we were doing. My wife would teach girls to dance, and I would teach drumming.
We got some young people involved in a dance class at Christina Cultural Arts Center. And we had a youth ensemble of drummers and dancers as well as a drama group meeting as the Northeast Cultural Ensemble.
Eventually that led to Griots Wa Umoja?
Yes, in traditional African culture griots go from village to village like a living newspaper. They find out the news.
The role here for the griots was to learn. There was so much about African culture that was not understood. So the first thing for me was to internalize the teachings, then pass them on.
I find there is always something in this life that I can compare to something in African traditional life, like a proverb or a story.
As dancers, drummers and storytellers, we've performed everywhere - prisons, schools, nurseries, day care centers and at weddings and funerals. We've traveled to other cities too.
Tell me about your involvement in helping young people go through what's known as Rites of Passage.
Through Rites of Passage we work with youth and adults. We help with school work, teach about health and sexual and values clarification. We also teach African language, dance and drumming.
It's a way to prepare young people for adult life but we have adults who continue to learn all through their life. The boys start at age 10, the girls at 12. Rites of Passage is part of a national organization. There are collectives or branches in a number of cities.
I've been involved about 15 years. Last year we met at Thomas Edison School. Over the years we've used different community centers throughout the city.
How did you learn about Kwanzaa?
Back when my wife and I were younger we would attend classes anywhere from Washington to New York. And there was a time I traveled to Newark, N.J., for classes in Swahili.
The center there was affiliated with A Congress of African People, and at the time Dr. (Maulana) Karenga was the leader. It was Dr. Karenga who created Kwanzaa.
It started in 1966. We learned about it in 1968, and we started celebrating it with a few local families. Our first community celebration was at the Y at 10th and Walnut streets. But eventually we outgrew that.
Now we're at the Longshoreman's Union Hall for our big community feast. It's always been free. People bring food offerings. We have wholesome entertainment. Several hundred people come out.
Why did you think Kwanzaa was important?
Until Kwanzaa there wasn't any African American holiday that was a nondenominational people-oriented cultural celebration.
It's held under the premise that people under African descent are spiritual without saying people have to follow any one way. It's a holiday for people to come together and celebrate family and community. And the values are not just individually oriented.
We invite people to share an evening meal for the seven days and to talk about different principals each night that are part of a meaningful life.
The first principal is unity. So you talk about what you did in the past year and what you will do in the coming year in regards to unity. You pray, eat together and enjoy the entertainment.
In our family we also fast from sunup to sundown. It's a way to step into the new year (Kwanzaa starts Dec. 26) with a reinvigorated body and spirit. We don't eat any meats and try to stay away from processed foods.
Kwanzaa has caught on here. But that's taken awhile, hasn't it?
There was a fear about Kwanzaa at first. Some people said you couldn't celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa. Some people said that Kwanzaa was a black Christmas, that you didn't get gifts during Kwanzaa and that it was an anti-Christian holiday.
But those misunderstandings have been corrected.
What advice would you like to pass on to young people?
Understand there is a higher power and that you are worth something. Get your education and respect yourself. There are so many opportunities in life that await you.
Contact Gary Soulsman at 324-2893 or gsoulsman@delawareonline.com.