Celebrate the Holidays at the Sisterhood Supper: Kwanzaa Celebration

IamWANDA org
1 day ago
4 min read

Updated: 23 hours ago

“When Black women gather around the table, something powerful happens: stories rise, joy multiplies, and the future becomes possible.”

On December 18th, in the warm and welcoming space of Ìpàdé in Washington, D.C., WANDA will host its 2nd Sisterhood Supper: Kwanzaa Celebration — a night of food, fellowship, culture, and collective purpose. But this year, the gathering carries something deeper: a call to invest in the next generation of Black women in food, nutrition, and agriculture through the WANDA Scholars Program.

And the hook is simple: We’re not just serving food. We’re serving futures.

🎁 A Night of Joy, Gifts & Community Love

The 2025 Sisterhood Supper will feature:

Photos with Santa Claus
Kwanzaa Cuisine
Kwanzaa Creative Station with WANDA coloring and Kwanzaa games with raffle prizes
WANDA Music Jam featuring Afrobeat and neo-soul holiday tracks
Collective affirmation ceremony
Group kinara photo to close the evening

It is a celebration of everything we carry in our hands, our kitchens, our hearts, and our histories.

🕯️ A Supper Rooted in Kwanzaa — and Rising Beyond It

Hosted from 6:00 – 9:00 PM EST, the Sisterhood Supper brings the Nguzo Saba principles to life — not as abstract ideas, but as lived values:

Umoja (Unity) through shared meals
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) through storytelling and affirmation
Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility) in supporting students
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) with vendors and partners
Nia (Purpose) in funding education
Kuumba (Creativity) in poetry and cultural expression
Imani (Faith) in the brilliance of Black women and girls

And our joy-filled host, award-winning media personality Kelsey Nicole Nelson, beautifully captures the spirit:

“Sisterhood Supper is more than a celebration — it’s a homecoming. Coming together in the spirit of Kwanzaa reminds us that unity, purpose, and creativity still live in our kitchens, our communities, and our hearts. I’m honored to help lift up WANDA’s mission and celebrate Black women and girls who nourish, nurture, and lead us forward.” — Kelsey Nicole Nelson

🍽️ Our Food Tells the Story

This year’s menu, prepared by Chef Candice Mensah of Hedzole, is a culinary love letter to the African diaspora, honoring ancestral flavors and community healing through food-as-medicine. Her approach is rooted in cultural preservation and wellness, reminding us that our heritage dishes are not only delicious — they are powerful tools for reclaiming health, pride, and identity.

👩🏾‍🌾 Funding the Future: The WANDA Scholars Program

At the heart of this celebration is a movement to create opportunities for Black women to thrive in fields where they are historically underrepresented — nutrition, agriculture, food policy, maternal health, and leadership.

WANDA Founder Tambra Raye Stevenson, MPH, MA, PhD Candidate whose own journey spans Oklahoma to Nigeria to D.C., shares:

“Investing in Black women studying food and agriculture is investing in the future of our families and communities. The WANDA Scholars Program is how we plant seeds today that will grow into healthier, more liberated tomorrows. When our daughters rise, we all rise.” — Tambra Raye Stevenson

The goal this season is to raise funds to:

🌱 Provide scholarships to college students

🌱 Support a new D.C.-based education fund

🌱 Produce a documentary spotlighting scholars in the U.S. and Nigeria

🌱 Expand leadership training and cultural curriculum

🌱 Sustain mentorship and professional development opportunities

This is more than a program — it’s a pipeline.

🕯️ Why the Sisterhood Supper Matters: Feeding Purpose, Funding Possibility

This isn’t an ordinary holiday event. It is part-homecoming, part-cultural celebration, part-movement — and all heart. Each attendee, each shared dish, each Kwanzaa principle brought to life through ceremony, poetry, and practice, contributes to a mission much bigger than the night itself: to fund women’s education, leadership, and empowerment across the African diaspora.

Currently, the WANDA Scholars Program supports students at:

🎓 Oklahoma State University (USA)

🎓 Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria.

And this year, WANDA is expanding its vision to build:

A WANDA Scholars Education Fund in Washington, D.C.
A documentary that amplifies the voices, journeys, and triumphs of Black women shaping the future of food
New global pathways for young women to study nutrition, agriculture, food sovereignty, and cultural foodways

This doesn’t just change individual lives — it shifts generations.

💛 NOURISHing the Village: Celebrating Alumnae & Community Partners

This year’s supper also brings together alumni from WANDA’s NOURISH: Maternal Food as Medicine Program, created through our partnership with Dreaming Out Loud.

Our long-time collaborator Jaren Hill Lockridge reflects on that partnership and why this supper matters now more than ever:

“NOURISH showed us what’s possible when Black women are given the tools, community, and cultural grounding to reclaim their health. Supporting the WANDA Scholars Program means we’re building a lifelong ecosystem of care — from the womb, to the classroom, to the farm, to the community.” — Jaren Hill Lockridge

Their presence at Sisterhood Supper symbolizes continuity — from mothers to daughters, from student to scholar, from community to movement.

🔥 A Homecoming for the Heart — and a Blueprint for the Future

The Sisterhood Supper is beautiful. But it’s also strategic. Joy is the strategy. Community is the strategy. Education is the strategy. Sisterhood is the strategy. Every ticket, every donation, every purchase of WANDA merchandise at the event helps build a future where: