[URBAN NOTE] "Kwanzaa connects Torontonians to ancestry as it marks 50th anniversary"
CBC News' Taylor Simmons notes that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Kwanzaa.
Zakiya Tafari remembers celebrating his first Kwanzaa over 20 years ago.
"I was introduced to it at a very young age and just found it to be really empowering," he said.
"There are some guiding principles that really help individuals know who we are as individual black people, what are some of the great things that our ancestry came from and what we need to be doing to move that message forward."
He sees that continuation in his 12-year-old daughter. This year, she bought a new dashiki, a colourful African garment, to wear during their Kwanzaa celebration.
"It's really cool to see a kid who grew-up in a different generation from me, who's very much a modern kid ... but she still respects some of her African ancestry and is proud to embrace it."
The centrepiece of Kwanzaa, according to Tafari, is spending time with each other.
Zakiya Tafari remembers celebrating his first Kwanzaa over 20 years ago.
"I was introduced to it at a very young age and just found it to be really empowering," he said.
"There are some guiding principles that really help individuals know who we are as individual black people, what are some of the great things that our ancestry came from and what we need to be doing to move that message forward."
He sees that continuation in his 12-year-old daughter. This year, she bought a new dashiki, a colourful African garment, to wear during their Kwanzaa celebration.
"It's really cool to see a kid who grew-up in a different generation from me, who's very much a modern kid ... but she still respects some of her African ancestry and is proud to embrace it."
The centrepiece of Kwanzaa, according to Tafari, is spending time with each other.