Kwanzaa is almost here.

The African American Cultural Center hosted a pre-Kwanzaa celebration on Sunday at Tate Grand Hall. The program featured an explanation of the meaning and purpose of Kwanzaa, as well as a performance from the Pamoja Dance Company.

“It’s a big community event that brings people together, and so it’s something a lot of people look forward to every year,” said Amy Anderson, senior coordinator for the Center. “It’s not a religious event, so it’s great for kids and everybody, regardless of your faith, to participate in.”

And the event did bring groups of people together. The Residence Hall Association had representatives there to show their support.

Ben Bradshaw, a sophomore Spanish education major from Toccoa, is the vice president on the RHA executive board.

“We like to support housing support multicultural events,” Bradshaw said. “’I’m actually excited to figure out more of what it’s about because I definitely do not know [about Kwanzaa.] I feel like we’re at the right place to find out.”

Some students, like Dana Ware, a freshman pre-journalism major from Dallas, attended the event to learn more about Kwanzaa.

Ware’s CLASS advocate invited her to the event. The CA is a position in housing that was instilled by the University to integrate minority students into campus life and boost the retention rate.

“I didn’t really know much about Kwanzaa and as an African-American student I thought that it would be informative to learn some more about the Kwanzaa and how it relates to my culture,” Ware said.

Ware doesn’t celebrate Kwanzaa with her family, but there were several families present, like David Okech and his family. Okech, a professor in the school of social work, was the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

“We just got invited and we wanted to be part of it and to celebrate with African American families here about Kwanzaa,” Okech said. “We have actually not done [Kwanzaa] even though we come from Africa.”

Okech is from Kenya and his family speaks Swahili, the language the word “Kwanzaa” comes from.

Kwanzaa normally begins on December 31 and continues through Jan. 1, 2011, but since class will be out of session during those days, the celebration was held a little bit earlier.

Nkenna Njoku, a freshman sociology major from Woodstock, said she was there for cultural experience and enrichment.

“I just wanted to learn more about Kwanzaa,” Njoku said. “So that when I’m asked in class or lectures or by other people what Kwanzaa is, then I can speak with knowledge of the subject.”