Festival
stresses equality, diversity
By Ruth Estrada
On-line Forty-Niner
Professor
Maulana Karenga, creator of Kwanzaa, taught
students about culture differences and respect
for one another Thursday in the University
Student Union in a lecture presented by
the Associated Students Inc. and the Multicultural
Center.
“We are at a crucial junction in our history,
and we must celebrate our diversity,” Karenga
said. “We must stop singling out people.”
Karenga is considered one of the most powerful
and empowering speakers in the nation on
issues of multicultural education and campus
diversity, according to James Manseau Sauceda,
director of CSULB’s Multicultural Center.
“He is the refreshment of the spirit,” Sauceda
said. “He is an inheritance you thought
you lost.”
Laura Apeldoorn, Associated Students secretary
for equity and diversity, created this event
so that students could become more aware
of the issues that exist in a multicultural
society.
“My father is Dutch and my mother is Korean,”
Apeldoorn said. “I grew up not really knowing
where I fit in. I feel that it is part of
my responsibility to promote multicultural
awareness.”
Karenga first began his journey in high
school teaching equality and culture awareness.
However, it was at Los Angeles Community
College where his journey truly began.
“I was the first colored, black student
body president,” Karenga said. “I organized
the people of color as well as the international
students, by building one of the first multiculture
alliances.”
Karenga began his speech by defining the
term multicultural as a practice that teaches
people respect for culture and diversity.
“Whether you are Native American, African
American, Japanese, European or Latino,
we must ask ourselves where we stand,” Karenga
said. “We must see our fate as a common
one.”
Karenga also said that everyone has his
or her own multicultural truth and that
each individual must be allowed to speak
his or her own multicultural truth.
“We must open our minds to all ideas,” Karenga
said. “We must always have a love for life
and our neighbors.”
Karenga said that we must live in a world
where human beings are all educated and
equal.
“Education allows human beings to act more
effectively,” Karenga said. “It allows human
beings to live a more meaningful life.”
Karenga said that we should also value space
and stand up for what is ours.
“We must protect and share our neighborhoods
and communities,” Karenga said. “Corporations
do not have a right in privatizing our space.”
Sharing the wealth of the world was another
important point that Karenga took time to
talk about.
“The idea that some nations have the right
to exist and others do not is madness,”
Karenga said. “We need a world of peace
and mutual respect.”
Karenga said that our nation and world need
to act as if we are all brothers and sisters.
“Don’t call me your brother,” Karenga said,
“if you treat me like your enemy.”
Responsibility and acceptance of our actions
was a key point in Karenga’s speech.
“We need to find time to make a contribution
to the world that we deserve to live in,”
Karenga said. “Every day is a donation to
eternity.”
Students that attended the event expressed
mixed feelings on how much our nation and
world has progressed in diversity.
Ashley Diamont, a junior studying psychology,
said she feels pretty good when it comes
to the subject of our nation being diversified.
“I think that our nation is very diverse,”
Diamont said. “There is a growing awareness,
and it is important to understand the different
cultures.”
Jennifer Ratner, junior and liberal studies
major, also said she feels that awareness
is growing and that it should not be ignored.
“I am a sister of Lambda Sigma Gamma and
we pry on cultural awareness,” Ratner said.
“It is a good idea for people to become
involved with the many different cultures
that exist in our community.”
However, Elmer Nunn, a senior studying black
studies, said he feels that our nation still
needs a lot of work in becoming a diverse
country.
“Our history books and media still have
along way before we can actually consider
our country to be equal,” Nunn said. “To
this day our African community continues
to see negative things.”
|
