Shantrice Deschaine and her family started celebrating Kwanzaa instead of Christmas last year when her family was stuck in a hotel because of black mold in their apartment.

“We couldn’t light candles, so we made our kinara out of construction paper and stuff,” she said of the seven-branched candleholder used in Kwanzaa celebrations in the United States.

“Once I realized that the kids didn’t even notice that it was Christmas Day I knew I was onto something,” she said. “We’re just going to take Christmas off completely.”

Her sister, Shakila Eirby has been celebrating the holiday for about five years. This year, the two families are celebrating together.

Between the two sisters, they have 10 children who are totally on board with the celebration.

“It’s better than Christmas,” Shantrice’s 17-year-old son, Jaden, said. “It makes me feel a lot closer to our family. And at the end, there’s a feast. And I do like to eat.”

Kwanzaa was started in 1966 to celebrate African heritage and culture and to introduce the Nguzo Saba or the “Seven Principles.” The holiday is seven days long and includes a feast, gift-giving and lighting a kinara.

The center candle of the kinara is black, which represents people. There are three red candles on the left that represent the bloodshed and struggles of the past, and three green candles on the right that represent the possibilities for the future.

Each candle lit during each of the seven days of Kwanzaa represents a different principle; Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).

Shakila’s family has experience celebrating Kwanzaa and is the family expert on the holiday.

“Every night, we talk about the principle of the day and how to incorporate it into the year the following year,” she said.

“Kwanzaa is not just for seven days,” Shantrice said. “You live your whole life (with the principles). Every day. 365.”

“My husband, who is white, made them watch a documentary and write down five facts from what they learned,” Shantrice said, “to instill in them who they are as African-American children, what their culture is based on, who came before them, and why is it important to know that.”

“Yesterday, was self-determination,” Shantrice said Thursday. “You pick your African name. We made bracelets, we spent time together as a family, and we watched documentaries. Last year, they learned stuff that we use every day was invented by black inventors.”

“Today is the community day,” Shantrice said.

The sisters had planned to take their children out to clean up the community.

Shantrice said she wants her children “to know how important it is for a community to be together, love each other and be there for each other.”

Shantrice found Kwanzaa games on Facebook. The nine youngest children have been practicing a Kwanza karaoke song they found on YouTube to perform on the final feast day.

“My little son Ezra, he’s 6, knows more about Kwanzaa than I do,” Shantrice said. “He’s like a sponge. Whatever we say, he soaks it up, and he just recites it.”

Shantrice has blended her husband’s Viking heritage with her Egyptian heritage.

“We do a holiday tree. The ax is at the top for the Vikings,” she said while pointing out ornaments on their tree.

“We have the pagan symbols, like the goat and deer,” Shantrice said. “We have the Kwanzaa ornaments. My daughter made spell balls.”

A wrapped bundle of cinnamon symbolizes prosperity and good luck.

The final day of Kwanzaa is feast day when Shantrice’s family exchanges gifts. She is an avid crafter and made silkscreened shirts for every member of the family embellished with the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

She stresses that gift-giving does not have to be expensive; it can be a gift of teaching someone something. “I know how to braid hair,” she said. “One of my gifts can be to teach one of the boys how to braid. That’s a gift that I can pass down.”

Her son Jaden chimes in: “I make music and I’m pretty lyrical, so I’m thinking of writing poems for each one of my siblings.

“At the end of the day, your family is giving you something because they know you and you know that they love you,” Jaden said.

The feast day features lots of great food. The two sisters are from Mobile, Alabama, so they cook up southern foods to represent their personal family history.

“We’ll make party food that we all enjoy, and something for the kids, that we know they’ll eat. Macaroni and cheese,” Shantrice said.

“And collard greens,” Shakila adds.

“Kwanzaa builds our kids up with what we didn’t have, which is community and knowledge of who we are, what our people went through and how they survived all these years. It’s important to show how strong we are as a people,” she said.

The sisters are emphatic that the holiday is not about slavery. “I don’t even talk about slavery with my children. I talk about the queens. And what they brought to the world,” Shantrice said. “In school, they only teach you about slavery. It’s depressing.”

“That’s why we shed a light on the accomplishments of our people, how amazing we are, and what we will do,” she said.

“Anybody can do Kwanzaa, Black, white, Hispanic, anybody,” Shantrice said. “If people live by these seven principles. I feel like we’d be a better world.”

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