Drums echoed through Rochester's NOTA district Saturday as a beloved holiday tradition returned for its 28th year.
The Memorial Art Gallery hosted its annual Kwanzaa celebration, offering free admission for an afternoon of cultural connection.
Those African drums filled the Vanden Brul Pavilion as families gathered for storytelling and hands-on activities centered on Ujima, the Kwanzaa principle of collective work and responsibility.
Local artist and educator Unique Fair-Smith, who led afternoon tours of the museum's African and African American art collections, connected this principle to community action.
"We talk about the idea that it takes a community to raise a child. But often we don't consider that, at times, a village can be unhealthy," he said. "One of the ways a village is unhealthy is if folks aren't willing to do the work of coming into these environments and talking and engaging and educating."
Vendor Beverly Colbert, who sold Kwanzaa-themed apparel, said the significance of the local celebration is just a microcosm of what’s happening everywhere.
"Kwanzaa is getting bigger and bigger, so that means more people are sharing it with each other, and that's the main thing," Colbert said. "We have to keep saying it's not a religion; it's cultural. Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday."
Celebrated annually from December 26th through January 1, each day highlights a different principle, with families lighting one candle of the kinara each evening.
