New elders help mark beginning of Kwanzaa

It’s important that lessons learned over time aren’t forgotten, say the elders of the African-American Council of Elders Wichita/Sedgwick County.

So on Monday, the council enstooled eight new elders and five new associate elders and scribes as part of a celebration to mark the beginning of Kwanzaa.

2016 marked the 13th time the council has gathered together for a community Kwanzaa celebration and the sixth time it has enstooled – or initiated – new elders to the council.

Kwanzaa, a nonreligious holiday that runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, emphasizes seven values, one for each day of the holiday: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

“It’s a continuation of what our ancestors have done – you know, you can’t know where you’re going unless you have a good firm understanding of where you’ve been,” said Terrill Florence, vice presiding elder of the council. “All wisdom is is appropriate use of knowledge to apply to your present state that you’re in, and that has come from your elders.”

James Arbertha, the presiding elder of the council, said Kwanzaa “incorporates it all ... the basic principles of life.”

“We don’t have to rely upon anyone else – we can rely strictly on ourselves to overcome any and all things that come before us and collectively work toward building a great community for the future,” Florence said.

The council was founded in 2001 as a means for concerned elders to share knowledge and act as an advisory board on issues that affect Wichita’s African-American community. It does not put on functions of its own – rather, it supports existing groups such as the NAACP, Urban League of Kansas, and more.

Pamaline Burns, one of the new elders enstooled on Monday, said she wants to use her eldership to advocate for community health issues.

“To me, it is imperative that we don’t go through life in a capsule, keeping our experiences to ourselves and keeping our hard-learned lessons to ourselves,” Burns said. “When I am able to give back to my community that helped raise me, that nurtured me and that guided me, and now I can give back in the same manner, that’s really important to me.”

Elders that were enstooled into the council Monday include Letitia Brown, David Carter, Sharon Cranford, Gretta Samilton, Pamaline Burns, Melody Miller, Ferwilda Sears and Carl Shackleford. The new associates and scribes include Jo Bogan, Leslie Brown, Cathy Gray, Marcelles Grey and Azeeb Telele.

This story was originally published December 26, 2016 at 4:58 PM with the headline "New elders help mark beginning of Kwanzaa."