“The Greater Columbus community celebration of Kwanzaa moves this year from the King Arts Complex, which is undergoing renovation, to the Ohio History Center.
“The seven-day celebration will begin Dec. 26. The local event will run from 4 to 8 p.m. each day, and is a joint effort between the Ohio History Connection and Tawi Family Village.
“Tawi Family Village has for many years led a citywide Kwanzaa event,” said Lyn Logan-Grimes, the African American history experience developer at the Ohio History Connection. “So I approached them this year about hosting it here at the Ohio History Connection, which is a first for us. That’s really exciting.”
“Phyllis Ransom, who holds the position of Elder with Tawi Family Village, is one of the chief organizers of the event.
“It’s a time of the year to look at the harvest that we have made as a community and to celebrate whatever good things have happened and use the bad things to help us plan for the coming year. Everybody gets together and has a great time celebrating each other,” she said.
“It’s a time of the year to look at the harvest that we have made as a community and to celebrate whatever good things have happened and use the bad things to help us plan for the coming year. Everybody gets together and has a great time celebrating each other,” she said.
“Each day of the event celebrates a different principle.
“Day One, for example, pays tribute to Unity (“Umoja,” in Swahili) and Day Two to Self-Determination (“Kujichagulia”).
“Every day will be chock-full of visual and performing arts,” Logan-Grimes said. “Each day will start off with a drum procession of elders and a libation and candlelighting ceremony, and will end with a drum circle as well.”
“This year’s event will be spread out over the Ohio History Center.
“It’s a huge space, so this year we will have multiple things going on at the same time. We’ve not been able to do that before,” Ransom said. “We’re anxious to see how it’s going to work, and we’re hoping that it will work well for us,” (Quamme, 2021).
On a typical day, the Ohio History Connection Center is quiet. Visitors flit from exhibit to exhibit, working their way through Exhibits that chronicle Ohio history from prehistoric times to the present and beyond. But not during December 2021. From December 2021 to January 2022 OHC hosted the Tawi Family Village Kwanzaa celebration, with music, art, dance, storytelling, small businesses, and speeches. During the cold, dark winter days in Columbus, this event got everyone up and active. People had a great time exchanging stories, having conversations, singing, dancing, and touring exhibits together.
Though I’ve been to Ohio History Connection many times, I remember this event particularly well. Why?
This event was dynamic, active, and exciting, it was more than just another museum visit. Seeing others excited to be there made me feel excited to be there and the space felt alive. If an event at OHC can make a concrete museum feel alive, perhaps ODNR can organize events that bring their parks to life too!
References
Ohio History Connection. (2021, December). [Kwanzaa dance and storytelling at OHC] [Photograph attached] [Post]. X. https://x.com/OhioHistory
Quamme, M. (2021, December 23). Kwanzaa celebration to be ‘chock-full’ of art,
music, dance and African American culture. The Columbus Dispatch.
https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/2021/12/23/
kwanzaa-celebrate-african-american-culture-dec-26-jan-1/8960354002/
