The singer and music teacher Melanie DeMore stepped to the microphone and started, “On this, the third night…”

“The fourth night!” shouted voices from the congregation of Chochmat HaLev, a synagogue in Berkeley, Calif., where the Hanukkah candles had just been lit with a Jewish blessing. 

DeMore held up a finger in gentle chiding. “On this, the third night, she continued, “of Kwanzaa…the word is ‘Ujima.’ 

Ujima is often rendered as “collective work and responsibility.” DeMore, who has taught music to thousands of young people, has adapted the language of Kwanzaa to be accessible to children. “Ujima – we work together,” she said.

I had the privilege to be in the pop-up choir that DeMore and Lior Tsarfaty had spun up to invite more voices into the light – and darkness – of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa with a warm and soulful evening of music.

For me, the experience was the perfect introduction to public singing – no commitment and no talent required. DeMore took us through a two-hour rehearsal the day before and here we were, to perform three songs, including DeMore’s Kwanzaa anthem, Aché Oh Kwa. 

This year’s rare confluence of the eight days of Hanukkah and the seven days of Kwanzaa ends  on New Year’s Day. For both, the days are counted out in candles, on a Kwanzaa kinara or a Hanukkah menorah. Kwannukah, anyone? 

The black candle in the middle of the kinara for the first day of Kwanzaa represents Umoja – unity.

“There is more that unites us than divides us,” DeMore said to the mostly Jewish audience. “And we need that unity now more than ever.”

During Kwanzaa, started in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga as an expressly African American holiday, each day calls out a core value of secular and aspirational traditions that span Africa and North America. 

The values resonate with many Agents of Impact. In Boston, the Ujima Fund is demonstrating the (investment) power of neighborhood democracy and rebalancing risk, returns and power in local impact investing. Lucas Turner-Owens, an early manager of the Ujima project, was featured as an Agent of Impact way back in 2019; last year he returned to host his Impact(ed) podcast with Eric Horvath, part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network. 

Ujama, or cooperative economics, is the favorite day of another Agent of Impact, Kim Folsom of Founders First Capital in San Diego. Founders First provides flexible, revenue-based financing to help founders keep control of their companies. For “Aché Oh Kwa,” DeMore rendered Ujama as “enough for all.” 

“When we share and support collaborative financial advancement we all win,” Folsom wrote on LinkedIn.

Nia, for purpose, suggests “our path is clear.” Kuumba, or creativity, reflects the truth that “we create our world.” The song closes with a rousing callout for Imani, or faith: “We hold the faith // that we are free.”

DeMore is a frequent guest at Chochmat Halev, where Tsarfaty is musical director. She is a special teacher; it was a joy to sing together in the choir and to be sent into the new year with her heartfelt elegy, Sending You Light, which has become a staple of Chochmat’s service. 

“I’m sending you light, to heal you, to hold you.
I’m sending you light, to hold you in love.”

For me, and I know for many others, the burdens of the world felt particularly heavy this holiday season. The Hanukkah story has been due for a reboot long before the awful toll in Palestine and Israel. This year’s Kwanzaa and Hanukkah concert acknowledged the darkness along with the candles of the kinara and the menorah. 

Without the darkness, Tsarfaty reminded us, we couldn’t see the light.