TOLEDO, Ohio — The annual holiday of Kwanzaa is celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, with each day corresponding to a principle:
- Umoja (unity)
- Kujichagulia (self-determination)
- Ujima (collective responsibility)
- Ujamaa (cooperative economics)
- Nia (purpose)
- Kuumba (creativity)
- Imani (faith)
The Toledo Kwanzaa House held a celebration for the entire duration of the holiday at the Frederick Douglass Center in central Toledo.
Rachelle Roy attended Kwanzaa events as a kid, but this year was the first time she celebrated as an adult.
"I actually gave birth to a child on Kwanzaa day, so it made me want to come out and celebrate and see what Kwanzaa was all about in my adult life," Roy said.
Roy said following the seven principles has helped her and believes if more people followed them, it could fix issues in the Toledo area.
"If you empower those principles in yourself, you can do the community a whole lot better," she said.
Kwanzaa House Co-Chair Rodney Gordon agrees with Roy, especially when it comes to gun violence. 30 people died in shootings in Toledo in 2023.
"I've had members of my family affected by gun violence, I've lost members of my family to gun violence," he said. "It's just something that I always have on heart that I feel we should be doing more for."
Gordon said the Kwanzaa celebration is a good place to talk to people in the community about gun violence while also educating them on the seven principles.
"Having people have something in their life that they care about helps curb something like gun violence," said Gordon. "If you have something you care about, you're going to think about that before you pull a trigger."
Roy said the holiday's principles are needed in the community.
"We do need unity, we do need to have a purpose, we do need to have faith, we do need to embody most of those principles that they are discussing through Kwanzaa," she said.
While Monday was the last day of Kwanzaa, the Toledo Kwanzaa House holds events throughout the year.