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United we stroll: Particpants in the
annual Kwanzaa Crawl will visit blackowned
businesses on Dec. 26, the first
day of Kwanzaa, which is called Umoja,
or “unity.” Deneka Peniston
They mean business
Sisters return with annual Kwanzaa bar crawl
COURIER LIFE, D 24-7 EC. 21-27, 2018 49
By Alexandra Simon It’s black for the third time!
The business boosting Kwanzaa
Crawl will return for its third year on
Dec. 26, sending thousands of bar hoppers
to 25 black-owned bars and restaurants
scattered from Park Slope to Bedford-
Stuyvesant. The day-long event, which also
happens in Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood,
is the brainchild of two Caribbean-
American sisters who wanted to focus on
black economic power on the first day of
the pan-African holiday.
In a year when a white manager called
the cops on two black men sitting inside
a Starbucks , and when Flatbush nail salon
employees attacked two black customers ,
it is more important than ever for the black
community to prioritize black businesses,
said the event’s co-founder.
“When companies or businesses like
that nail salon or Starbucks mess up, that’s
when we start to look for black-owned coffee
shops and black-owned nail salons,”
said Kerry Coddett. “With the Kwanzaa
Crawl, I want black people to start becoming
more active than reactive.”
The bar crawl also puts a positive focus
on spots that are often the subject of negative
stereotypes, she said.
“We don’t celebrate our businesses
enough and say they have bad service, but
this is a chance to go to all venues,” said
Coddett. “They’re all so different — some
are dive bars and some are fancy eateries.”
Every year the crawl’s popularity
continues to grow, and ticket sales this
year have already surpassed the 2,800
who joined the Kwanzaa Crawl last year,
according to Coddett’s sister and cofounder,
Krystal Stark.
“This year we are expecting 4,000 people,
and we’ve exceeded sales from last year
with 2,900 tickets already sold,” said Stark.
Most of the locations from the last two
crawls have joined in again, along with
several new additions, including Negril
BK, Nzuri Lounge, and the Slope Lounge,
among others.
Local businesses have been especially
thrilled with the results of having a
giant crowd coming out on the day after
Christmas, traditionally a slow time, said
Coddett.
“We had one owner in particular who
hadn’t even been open for a year and was
a first time restaurant owner when she
participated, and she welled up in tears
saying that we helped saved her business,”
she said.
The siblings said hearing that type of
testimony is not only rewarding, but a clear
example of the positive effect the crawl has
throughout the year, by exposing the businesses
to new people, said Stark.
In Brooklyn, participants will gather at
an early- or late-afternooon meeting location,
where they will be divided into teams.
Each group will set out on a different route
to visit at least four bars, many of which
offer drink and food specials.
This year the sisters will also add social
media awards for best outfit, dopest venue,
best disc jockey, and other categories, judged
from the hashtag #KwanzaaCrawl2018.
Coddett said that the Crawl is a great
event that people should join, whether they
celebrate Kwanzaa or not.
“It’s an opportunity to do something
positive, to have fun — but for a good
cause and have fellowship with like-minded
people,” she said. “It’s just a great experience
where we make you feel pride in being
black and celebrating each other.”
“Kwanzaa Crawl” Brooklyn meet-up at
Boys and Girls High School (1700 Fulton St.
between Schenectady and Utica avenues in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, www.kwanzaacrawl.
com). Dec. 26; 12:30–2 pm. $35.
And at Kings Beer Hall (84 St Marks Pl.
between Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park
Slope). 4:30–8 pm.
/www.kwanzaacrawl