Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 21 December 2000 — Page 1

The Muncie Times, 1304 N. Broadway, Muncie, IN 47303

BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID MUNCIE, IN PERMIT NO. 304

1990

The Muncie Times

Vol. 9, No. 23

Also serving Anderson, Marion, Richmond and New

December 21, 2000

Munsonians, others get ready to celebrate another Kwanzaa

By T. S. Kumbula This year’s scaledback Muncie Kwanzaa activities will kick off with a Dec. 26 speech by retired Indiana General Assembly member Hurley C. Goodall at the Buley Community Center, 1111 N. Penn St., sponsored by the Muncie chapter of Indiana Black Expo Inc. The noon speech will be followed by a number of activities, including a skit written and performed by Motivate Our Minds (MOM) students. MOM is a nonprofit, afterschool tutorial enrichment program for at-risk students. The only other local Kwanzaa event this year, is 10 a.m. to noon on Dec. 30 when the Conley Branch Library and Friends of the Conley Library team up

with Longfellow Elementary School’s APPLE Club for music, story telling, Kwanzaa crafts and food sampling. The menu for that includes chicken, hoppin’ john (black eyed peas and rice), cornbread, bread pudding and sweet potato pie. Kwanzaa is a 34-year-old African American celebration that starts Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1. This is a post-Christmas nonreligious and non-sectarian holiday used by African Americans and people of African descent on the continent and in the Diaspora to celebrate family, community and culture. It was started by Dr. Maulana Karenga, head of the Los Angeles-based US cultural organization and now chair of the

KWANZAA — The African American Holiday celebrated DECEMBER 26 through JANUARY 1

Everything you ever wanted to

mmmii - ,4 know about

Kwanzaa begins

on page 6

Merry Christmas

and Happy

Kwanzaa from the

staff of The Muncie

Times

department of black studies at California State University, Long Beach. More than 18 million people in the United States, Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America now observe it. Kwanzaa is the fastest-

growing African American celebration. According to Ebony magazine, it generates more than $700 million in business, primarily in greeting cards, candles, kinaras, wrapping paper, other Kwanzaa-related

merchandise and food. Unlike the commercialized Christmas giving, Kwanzaa gifts tend to be more utilitarian, such as books and other

KWANZAA SEE PAGE 11

Rev. Cody Miller

At 8, Cody Miller is a seasoned preacher By Judy Mays Miller, at 3 feet, 6 inches The audience and walking justly.” tall, delivers his fiery elders respond with “It was a timely Cody Miller, 8, likes message standing on a choruses of “Praise the message, well delivered roller skating and playing chair, behind the pulpit of Lord” and “Amen.” * and I knew God had used with action figures—when whatever church has Recently, Cody him,” said the Rev. Karen he’s not standing behind invited him. engaged a full house at Lang, pastor of the church, the pulpit preaching the From this vantage point, Trinity United Methodist It was Cody’s first visit to gospel. Cody speaks of faith and a Church, Muncie, with his Muncie, it will probably not Actually, the Rev. Cody God that never fails. message of “The righteous cody see page 13