Kwanzaa is fifty-eight this year and we go back to basics to explore its origins, purpose and principles as a comprehensive introduction to new celebrants and a timely re-affirmation for the more experienced ones. We will explore the context out of which it was created, by whom and its impact. For this we go straight to the source with an archive interview with the creator of Kwanzaa, Dr Maulana Karenga.
We will also look at some of the practices to facilitate celebrating in the home and encourage attendance at the community events.
KWANZAA UK EVENTS 2024
Saturday 21st December
Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence
Children’s Kwanzaa Banquet
1pm-6pm @ Chestnuts Community Centre,
280 St Ann’s Road, London, N15 5BN
£5 per Child, Adults Free.
Info: 07908 814 152 / alkebulan.org
UMOJA (Unity) 26th Dec (1st day)
Pan-African Congress Movement (PACM)
Rebirth of The Griot & Community Kwanzaa Organizing Committee
4pm to 8pm @ Tottenham Community Sports Centre,
701-703 High Road, London N17 8AD
Info/Stalls 07510 249 828
panafricancongressmovement@gmail.com
Admission Free (Donations Welcome)
KUJICHAGULIA (Self-Determination) 27th Dec (2nd day)
Per Ankh Community Enterprise
3pm to 8pm @ Leeds Caribbean & African Centre CIC,
10 Laycock Place, Leeds, LS7 3JA
Info/Stalls 07400 908 633
pastudygroup@yahoo.com
Adm: £5. Children Under 16 Free
PACM
7pm-10pm (Doors open 5pm) @ The Heritage Centre,
Clifford Street, Wolverhampton, WV6 0AA.
Info/stalls: 07546 952 955
Adm: Free. Donations welcome
UJIMA (Co-operative Economics) 28th Dec (3rd day)
100 Black Men of London
1pm to 7pm @ Free Church, Boston Manor Road,
Brentford, UK, Boston Manor Rd, Brentford TW8 8DW,
PACM/African Caribbean Self-Help Organisation
6pm to 10pm @ Legacy Centre of Excellence,
144 Potters Lane, Birmingham, B6 4UU
Info/Stalls 07939 241 650
bikospirit@gmail.com
Adm: Free. Donations welcome
Rebirth Of The Griot
6pm-10pm, Tottenham Community Sports Centre,
N17 8AD, Entry: Donation
NIA (Purpose) 30th Dec (5th day)
John Lynch African Education Programme
2pm to 9pm @ Malcolm X Community Centre,
141 City Road, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8YH
Text/WhatsApp: 07960 240 198
Bring food and drink to share
Afruika Bantu Saturday School supported by Pan-Afrikan People’s Parliament, Campaign for Truth & Justice, Ethiopian World Federation, Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence, Nubia African Community Foundation School and Garvey Village
2pm to 8pm @ Sudborne Primary School, 21 Mandrel Road, London, SW2 5EF
Adm: £6 (Until 20/12 @ Eventbrite, £8 thereafter) / More On The Door
IMANI (Faith) 1st Jan (7th day)
PACM & African Community
4pm-9pm, 74 Carmoor Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock, M13 0FB. Info: 07884 444 080. Stalls: 07481 146 027
Adm: Free. Donations welcome.
What is Kwanzaa and why should you celebrate it?
Call in or text in to let us know what Kwanzaa means to you and who you want to send Kwanzaa greetings to.
Dr. Maulana Karenga: is professor and chair of the department of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach. He holds two Ph.D.’s; his first doctorate in leadership and human behavior/political science with focus on the theory and practice of African American nationalism (United States International University) and his second doctorate in social ethics with a focus on the classical African ethics of ancient Egypt (University of Southern California). Professor Karenga, an ethical philosopher, is the leading exponent of Maatian ethical thought, having developed over the last three decades, a creative and scholarly Kawaida interpretation of ancient Egyptian ethical thought as a living tradition and a useful philosophical option for critical reflection on the urgent issues of our time. His second dissertation, a major work of 803-pages titled Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics, and submitted in 1996, was the most requested work from UMI out of 45,000 dissertations and theses worldwide of that year. Published as a book in 2002, it has received praise from the Africana Studies and Egyptological communities as a seminal and defining work which has opened up a valuable new dialog with ancient Egyptian thought and culture.
Dr. Karenga is the author of 17 books and monographs and 4 co-edited books; 57 journal articles; 42 book chapters; over 650 columns and commentaries on critical issues; and numerous encyclopedia entries. Included in this list of books are: Introduction to Black Studies, the most widely used introductory text in Black/Africana Studies; Selections From The Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt; The Book of Coming Forth By Day: The Ethics of the Declarations of Innocence; Kawaida: A Communitarian African Philosophy; and a translation and ethical commentary on the classical Yoruba text, Odu Ifa, titled Odu Ifa: The Ethical Teachings. His most recent publications, in addition to Introduction to Black Studies, 4th edition are Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics; Handbook of Black Studies (co-authored with Molefi Kete Asante); Kawaida and Questions of Life and Struggle; Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis; The Message and Meaning of Kwanzaa: Bringing Good in the World; and The Liberation of Ethics of Malcolm X: Critical Consciousness, Moral Grounding and Transformative Struggle (to be published 2020).
An activist-scholar of national and international recognition, Dr. Karenga has had a far-reaching effect on Black intellectual and political culture since the 1960s. Through his intellectual and organizational work, his organization, Us, and his philosophy, Kawaida, he has played a vanguard role in shaping the Black Arts Movement, Black Studies, the Black Power Movement, the Black Student Union Movement, Afrocentricity, ancient Egyptian studies and the study of ancient Egyptian culture as an essential part of Black Studies, Ifa ethical studies, rites of passage programs, the Independent Black School Movement, African life-cycle ceremonies, the Simba Wachanga Youth Movement, Black theological and ethical discourse, and the Reparations Movement.
Moreover, he is the executive director of the African American Cultural Center and the Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies, Los Angeles, and national chairman of The Organization Us, a cultural and social change organization, so named to stress the communitarian focus of the organization, and the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO). Dr. Karenga has also played a key role in national united front efforts, serving on the founding and executive committee of the Black Power Conferences of the 60’s, the National Black United Front, the National African American Leadership Summit, the Black Leadership Retreat, the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO), and on the executive council of the national organizing committee of the Million Man March/Day of Absence, as well as authored the Mission Statement for this joint project.
Dr. Karenga is also internationally known as the creator of Kwanzaa, an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated throughout the world African community on every continent in the world. He is the author of the authoritative book on the subject: Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and lectures regularly and extensively on the vision and values of Kwanzaa, especially the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles), in various national and international venues. In addition, he has lectured on the life and struggle of African peoples on numerous campuses of the U.S.A. and in Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Trinidad, Britain and Canada.
His fields of teaching and research within Black Studies are: Black Studies theory, history and pedagogy, Africana (continental and diasporan) philosophy; ancient Egyptian (Maatian) ethics; ancient Yoruba (Ifa) ethics; African American intellectual history; ethnic studies; multiculturalism; and the socio-ethical thought of Malcolm X. He is currently writing a book on deep thinking in Africana Studies titled: Djaer, Deep Thinking in Africana Studies: Cultivating Critical, Creative and Ethical Reflection. Dr. Karenga is the subject of the book Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait by Dr. Molefi Kete Asante which is the definitive text on his intellectual and organizational work.
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