Photography courtesy of Better Family Life
We may still be a few weeks from Kwanzaa—the celebration of African American and pan-African culture—but you can learn about it and put one of its principles into action this weekend. The Kwanzaa Holiday Expo 2022 takes place this weekend at Better Family Life Cultural, Educational and Business Center (5415 Page). The expo runs from 10 a.m–7 p.m. Saturday and noon–6 p.m. Sunday. A $5 admission fee helps underwrite the event.
“This weekend, we will be celebrating the fourth principle of Kwanzaa, which is Ujamaa, or cooperative economics,” says DeBorah D. Ahmed, executive director the center.
Shop and network with a wide variety of Black-owned (and mostly St. Louis–based) businesses, including jewelry, artwork, food, real estate, and more. Enjoy film screenings, panel discussions, and a kids’ Kwanzaa village. Chef Nesee of That’s So Good Catering will also be dishing up food. And Better Family Life founder/first CEO Malik Ahmed will be there selling his book, From Projects to Pyramids: In Search of a Better Family Life.
The goal of the event is for attendees to get to know their neighbors better and to be ready to support them by doing business. “We want people to come here with money to spend,” Ahmed says. Ujamaa stresses self-reliance and building community through wealth and commerce—critical values for building up Black communities, Ahmed explains.
The expo has been going on for more than 35 years, and Ahmed says she’s struck by the expansion in the entrepreneurial undertakings of the participating vendors, especially in the past seven years or so. She mentions the examples of a shoe manufacturer and eyeglass frame designer. “That’s just two things I can think of off the top of my head where the ideas about what can be done to create, sustain, and grow a Black-owned business are greatly expanding.”
Beyond the economic principle of Ujamaa, Ahmed says the event draws attention to the work undertaken by Better Family Life. “We want people to know about the institution, what we call a jewel, offering not only the Kwanzaa Holiday Expo but a menu of services to anyone who walks through our doors. Most of our clients are African American—we were very intentional about making productive, corrective change to our families and for our communities.”
