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The First Fruits Festival of Kwanzaa ( A Zulu Celebration)

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Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday, is a first fruits harvest festival based largely on Umkhosi Wokweshwama, a celebration among the Zulus in South Africa. It is also known as the Calabash Festival or Umkhosi Woselwa. Moreover, Kwanzaa derived its name from the Kiswahili phrase matunda ya kwanza ("first fruits"). The Zulu Festival is held in December or January. However, the Zulu king determines the exact Umkhosi Wokweshwama date each year, usually around the December solstice. It takes place at the Enyokeni Royal Palace, Nogoma, Zululand. The purpose of the first fruits festival of Kwanzaa and Umkhosi Wokweshwana is to honor the harvest of the past year and seek prosperity for the future. At the ceremony, men and women participate in rituals, royal tasting, and praise-singing to receive blessings from their ancestors and provide good fortune for the year. Similar activities are performed at Kwanzaa celebrations in the United States, including pouring libations for ancestors who have passed away during the last year. In the South African celebration, the Zulu king speaks on issues that affect the community, such as AIDS. In addition, during Kwanzaa, speakers often talk about the great accomplishments of Africans while performers perform praise dances. There are differences between Kwanzaa and Umkhosi Wokweshwama. For example, Umkhosi Wokweshwama is a five-day lunar ritual that often occurs during the last full moon of the year, whereas Kwanzaa is a seven-day African-American holiday that is celebrated after Christmas. The African American holiday of Kwanzaa is a first fruits festival, inspired by the Zulu celebration Umkhosi Wokweshwama, also known asUmkhosi Woselwa. The story of The First Fruits Festival of Kwanzaa is about a boy named Shaka. He wants to attend the Umkhosi Wokweshwama to sing the ngoma for his ancestors. However, he does not know if he is strong enough to make the trip from America to South Africa because he suffers from sickle cell anemia. As Shaka navigates the festival and his ailment, readers will be introduced to the Zulu culture and experience the Umkohsi Wokweshwama.

Weniger Details

Steven Thedford began his writing career by winning a writing contest at Build Academy in Buffalo, New York for a book about an Easter egg in elementary school. His talents always amazed his fellow students. For instance, during the reading of a poem in a high school English class, he began a poem by saying, "I have the taste of the past in my mouth." But before he could continue, a classmate hollered out, "You didn't write that."With guidance from Dawn Scotland, a professor at Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University, Thedford polished his skills and won third place in a national essay contest honoring Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr., during his freshman year of college. He further used his abilities as a graduate student to write articles for a school newsletter. Moreover, during this time at North Carolina State University he published his own newsletter, African Expressions, a publication of poems. After graduate school, Thedford taught math and physics at Mbeji Academy in Ngi'ya Kenya, East Africa, as a fellow of the International Foundation of Education and Self Help. The experience inspired him to enter the teaching field in which he has nurtured young minds at Kennedy Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina, Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and DeKalb Online Academy in Decatur, Georgia. Presently, Thedford teaches physics at Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, GA. Thedford participated in a summer Teacher's Intern Program sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Department of Education, where he researched Celgard® membranes (Hoechst-Celanese). He also worked in the corporate section and as a civilian for the armed services-namely, Xerox Corporation, the Naval Ocean System Center (NOSCS), Honeywell Corporation, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2015 his fellow teachers at DeKalb Online Academy selected him as the "Teacher of the Year." Students have nominated him for "Who's Who Among American High School Teachers" for five different years. In addition, Thedford has been a Tandy Technology School Scholar and a National Institute of Health Apprentice and was selected to participate in the NanoTeach Pilot Program and Georgia Industrial Fellowship for Teachers. Finally, the University of Georgia honored Thedford with the Teacher of Promise Award. Using his experiences, Thedford published his first book, Inquiry Based Science Activities and Internet Lessons. New World Press, Inc. published Thedford's second book, The Kwanzaa Coloring Book (Games and Puzzles), which introduces children to the principles and symbols of the African American holiday of Kwanzaa. Moreover, New World Press, Inc., published Thedford's poetry book Nobody Told Me It Was Like This, "poetry you can understand." Furthermore, in 2019 Thedford released Kwanzaa Gets an A, a picture book about the history of Kwanzaa and why the name has two a's. Thedford released his second book of poetry in December of 2020, Kwansabas and Other Poems, an art form based on the South African praise poem. In the fall of 2021 New World Press, Inc. published Steven Thedford's second picture book, Rosco Run. Rosco Fun., a book about a neighborhood dog that knows how to relax. Furthermore, Thedford published his first young adult book in 2022, Eastside Story, a novel about his teaching experience in high school. Steven C. Thedford resides in Ellenwood, Georgia, with his daughters, Kennedy Isis, and Landyn Imani, and his wife, Yolanda Thedford.