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Kwanzaa celebrates culture

Celebration moves to Vancouver, will pay tribute to late flag-bearer

By Wyatt Stayner, Columbian staff writer
Published: December 15, 2017, 6:04am
6 Photos
Isaias Emmanuel James Holifield, who served as the African-American flag-bearer at the last three Kwanzaa Celebrations, died at age 12 in April from a brain tumor. He will be honored at this year’s celebration.
Isaias Emmanuel James Holifield, who served as the African-American flag-bearer at the last three Kwanzaa Celebrations, died at age 12 in April from a brain tumor. He will be honored at this year’s celebration. Contributed photo Photo Gallery

Ambrya Holifield remembers the dropped flag.

Her brother, Isaias Emmanuel James Holifield, had been tasked with carrying the African-American flag at a Kwanzaa Celebration in Portland in 2015. In the celebration rehearsal EJ became fed up with some admonishment he received, and decided to drop the flag on the ground, and storm out of Portland Community College’s Moriarty Arts Auditorium.

“He was like, ‘I don’t want to walk the flag.’ And then he just dropped it,” Ambrya, 17, recalled with a laugh. “I was like, ‘No. Don’t do that. You have to follow through on what you’re doing.’ ”

That was a small blip in the flag-carrying career of Emmanuel, or EJ, who developed a deep pride in flag-bearing and loved how he “looked like a strong man” while doing it, said his mother, Zoezita Holifield. Up until his death at age 12 in April from a brain tumor, celebration organizer and EJ’s cousin Ruby Lewis considered EJ “the bubbly center” of the Kwanzaa Celebration, which will shift from Portland to New Direction Community Church in Vancouver. This year’s celebration features African dancing and drumming, a Karamu feast and Zawadi gifts, similar to previous years.

“Kwanzaa is very significant because you learn about your heritage and your culture,” Lewis added. “We want to do the tribute so people know Kwanzaa isn’t just another holiday. It’s about family. It’s about culture. It’s about representation. … You look at the news, people are always talking about how African-Americans are scary or something negative. And we want Kwanzaa to be about something positive.”

If You Go

• What: Kwanzaa Celebration.

• When: 3 to 7 p.m. Dec. 16. Doors open at 3 p.m. Celebration starts at 3:30, and Karamu feast starts at 5:30 p.m.

• Where: New Direction Community Church, 5300 MacArthur Blvd., Vancouver.

• Admission: The celebration is free, but the feast costs $20 for ages 7 and older, $6 for ages 4 to 6, free for children 3 and younger. Cash only.

• Contact: 360-991-7389 or www.cityofvancouver.us/community/kwanzaa-celebration

This year’s ceremony will include a slide show in memory of EJ, who would have turned 13 on Dec. 4.

“My favorite thing to do with EJ was to find out who he was because he was getting older,” his mom continued. “I would just like watching him play in the park. Or seeing his character, because we all have character that we can’t change, no matter how old we get or how young we are.”

Zoezita Holifield discovered her son was a funny, independent, curious boy who knew he was dying and wanted to try everything. He played the flute. He gave the saxophone a shot, but he didn’t like it. The drums were up next, and so was the choir. Holifield thinks he could sing well but hid it from her.

EJ wanted to use his random sense of humor as the mascot for Cascade Middle School, where he was in sixth grade, and had dreams of joining the track and basketball teams. EJ collected nearly everything, and put it on his wall. There was the calendar from the power company his mom gifted him, a Mariners towel and a camouflage bandana. And in that room, two weeks before he died, EJ told his mom everything would be fine.

“He was just letting me know that he knows we won’t see each other again, but it’s OK, because we’ll see each other again,” Holifield said.

For now, EJ’s family is left with memories. Like the mom-son movie date EJ and Holifield went on where Holifield, an in-home care provider, bought EJ nachos, even though she was tight on money. Or how EJ and his sister, Ambrya, “would study together, eat together, laugh together, make fun of people together,” and sleep head-to-head together, crunched on the couch. Or how EJ would mimic Ambrya’s style by wearing jogging pants. Or how EJ would bake Ambrya cakes and brownies. Or how the siblings dyed their hair green, EJ’s favorite color. Or how days before EJ’s death, when he was weak from cancer and medicine, Ambrya begged him repeatedly to say “I love you” one more time until he mustered the strength to do so. Or how Ambrya bought EJ things — a green bike, socks, shoes, slippers — with her nannying money because “money is replaceable,” and while she didn’t like spending on herself, spending on EJ had purpose.

“He deserved it,” Ambrya explained. “Fighting brain cancer your whole life and then being smart, an A-B student. Then pushing through, not having anger, not blaming God, and respecting adults. You deserve anything you want.”

Without her brother and best friend, everything is harder for Ambrya. Waking up. Going to school. Living. But his enthusiasm, which made her “feel alive,” has stuck around.

“I was free with him when he was here, but now I’m more free and open with other people,” Ambrya said. “He left a lot here with me that I now understand.”

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Columbian staff writer