Oscar Ritchie Hall will be filled with the sounds of drums and stories tonight at the Black Graduate Students Association’s annual Kwanzaa celebration. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Mbari Mbayo Lecture Hall in Room 107A of Oscar Ritchie Hall.

Drumming and storytelling will accompany the sharing of the seven Kwanzaa Principles (Nguzo Saba), as well as light refreshments. The free event will feature storyteller Ivory D. Williams.

According to the Official Kwanzaa Web site, Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by a professor at California State, Maulana Karenga, as an African American and Pan-African cultural holiday. It is traditionally celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

The celebration is organized by the Black Graduate Students Association and sponsored by the Pan African Faculty and Staff Association and the Center for Student Involvement.

– Kiera Manion-Fischer