Diane Gordon has led Toledo’s Kwanzaa tradition for more than 50 years. She still remembers feeling starstruck at her first celebration in northwest Ohio in 1967 in her aunt’s home.
She recently passed the torch onto her grandson, Rodney, who will lead the community this year in celebrating the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose and faith.
Before stepping down, she wrote a book, titled “Collective Work of Toledo Kwanzaa House,” to ensure that the celebration of African culture and values continues with the next generation…