e-culture: Cultural Gift Giving, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad
December 5, 2003

IN THIS ISSUE Cultural Gift Giving Kwanzaa--What Is It? Feliz Navidad Vote

Cultural Gift Giving for the 2003-04 Holiday Season

This holiday season, as you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and the New Year in January or February with many different cultures, please support principles of peace and diversity. Remember to buy local, support community organizations and artists, value education and care about the people of the world. With that in mind, we offer some great gift suggestions.

You'll find ideas for people who stay at home and people who roam, from memberships and patronage to local organizations, to park passes and memberships for museums from Louisiana to New Mexico. But don't feel limited to these. Support for all kinds of community organizations is needed, from season ticket purchases that support the arts, to food donations that feed the homeless.

There are many recommendations for the universal gift of music, from an South African Gospel release and a masterwork of the late percussionist Babatunde Olatunji, to the modern innovations of Cibelle and Grazyna Auguscik. There's something new to inspire everyone -- the regional favorites, Geno Delafose and Bo Dollis, and the lively world music of The Klezmatics, Vinicius de Moraes and the Boban Markovic Orkestar. Most are 2002-03 releases, but there are a couple we missed in years past, like the New Orleans-James Brown hybrid sound of Oliver Morgan.

Check this list once or twice as you are giving this holiday season:
http://www.houstonculture.org/main/gifts2003.html

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Cultural Traditions: Kwanzaa--What Is It?

Our friends at the Akwansosem African Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison offer us this explanation of the festival that was first introduced in 1966 as an African American celebration of life. Beginning each year on the day after Christmas, this week-long festival is celebrated worldwide.

http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/kwan.html


Kwanzaa Celebration
Sponsored by S.H.A.P.E. Community Center and includes children's Kwanzaa activities, marketplace, opening ceremony, entertainment, and fellowship for the Houston community.

Begins Dec. 26, 2003
http://www.shape.org

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Feliz Navidad

Navidades: A Christmas Celebration
Presented by Society for the Performing Arts

A truly unique experience -- Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez returns to the United States to perform Navidades: A Christmas Celebration at Jones Hall, Friday, December 5 through Sunday, December 7th.

More than 60 dancers and mariachis will explore the traditions of Mexico, from pre-Hispanic indigenous dances to the popular festivities of the Carnival of Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. The series of dance and dramatic numbers will explore the Mexican Christmas traditions of "Las Posadas" and "Pastorela," a playful portrayal of the struggle between good and evil, and will conclude with a lively finale, "Fiesta en Jalisco."

Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6, 8:00pm
Sunday, December 7th, 2:00pm
Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana Street
Houston, Texas
713-227-4SPA


Get more event information on line:
http://www.houstonculture.org/events

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Vote

Remember to vote in the City of Houston and HISD Runoff Election on Saturday, December 6.

And if you are a KPFT supporter, the deadline for filing your candidacy for the board is Friday, December 5 (today). Listener-sponsors: Be sure to see the website, www.kpft.org, to learn the procedures for voting in the first democratic process for determining the management of an important local media source.



The holidays are a great time to learn about diverse cultures and introduce others to new interests. Give gifts that inspire peace and cultural education.

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M  a  r  k @houstonculture.org


Cultural and community organization listings:
http://www.houstonculture.org/listings

Tune in the World Music Show on KTRU:
http://www.houstonculture.org/world

Cultural and educational adventures:
http://www.houstonculture.org/travel