Kwanzaa celebration begins with unifying performance

December 26, 2016 at 9:14p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Colorful and flowing visions fly to the stage at New Bethel Baptist Church with energy and grace.

The dancers move to the beat of the djembe and get the people in the pews moving.

Monday night was the start of the 50th celebration year of Kwanzaa. The seven-day celebration of African heritage comes with seven principles. Every day, a new principle is celebrated. On Monday, Umoja, the unity principle, was celebrated with unifying performances.

“We are gathering together and unifying,” said Lynnette Kimako Miller, co-coordinator of the Kwanzaa event.

Dr. Maulana Karenga organized the first Kwanzaa in the U.S. in 1966. The holiday has been celebrated in Youngstown since then, with Lynnette and her husband, Ron Sababu Miller, leading the city’s Kwanzaa celebrations since the 1980s.

“It’s based on traditional African celebrations,” said Ron, co-coordinator. “The purpose of Kwanzaa is to get us African American people in touch with our heritage, with who we are ... to understand how we need to proceed.”