Maulana Karenga | |
|---|---|
 Karenga in 2011 | |
| Born | Ronald McKinley Everett (1941-07-14)July 14, 1941 (age 84) Parsonsburg, Maryland, U.S. |
| Other names | Ron Karenga |
| Alma mater | Los Angeles City College University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Creator ofpan-African andAfrican-American holiday ofKwanzaa |
| Spouse(s) | Brenda Lorraine "Haiba" Karenga (divorced) Tiamoyo Karenga (1971–) |
| Website | www |
Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (bornRonald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941),[1][2][3] previously known asRon Karenga, is an American activist, author and professor ofAfricana studies, best known as the creator of thepan-African andAfrican-American holiday ofKwanzaa.
Born inParsonsburg, Maryland, to an African-American family, Karenga studied atLos Angeles City College and theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. He was active in theBlack Power movement of the 1960s, joining theCongress of Racial Equality andStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In 1965, Karenga andHakim Jamal co-founded theblack nationalist groupUS Organization, which became involved in violent clashes with theBlack Panther Party by 1969. In 1971, he was convicted of felony assault,torture, and false imprisonment of women. He denied involvement and claimed the prosecution was political in nature. Karenga was imprisoned inCalifornia Men's Colony until he received parole in 1975.[4]
In 1966, Karenga notably createdKwanzaa, modeling the holiday after the African"first fruit" traditions. The rituals of the holiday promote African traditions, including the"seven principles of African heritage". During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said it was meant to be a black alternative toChristmas. Karenga, asecular humanist,challenged the sanity of Jesus and declaredChristianity a "White religion" that black people should shun.[5] However, Karenga later changed his opinion, stating that Kwanzaa was not meant to provide people with an alternative to "their own religion or religious holiday".[6]
Karenga has been awarded twodoctorates, one inPolitical Science in 1976 and one inSocial Ethics in 1994.[7] He currently chairs theAfricana Studies Department atCalifornia State University, Long Beach,[8] and has authored several books.[9]
Karenga was born inParsonsburg, Maryland, the 14th child and seventh son in the family. His father, Levi Everett, was atenant farmer andBaptist minister who employed the family to work fields under an effectivesharecropping arrangement.[10] Karenga moved toLos Angeles, California, in 1959, joining his older brother who was a teacher there, and attendedLos Angeles City College. He became active with civil rights organizationsCongress of Racial Equality andStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, took an interest in African studies, and was elected as LACC's first African-American student president.[11]
After earning his associate degree, hematriculated into theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and earned BA and MA degrees inpolitical science. He studiedSwahili,Arabic, and other African-related subjects. Among his influences at UCLA were Jamaican anthropologist andNegritudist Councill Taylor, who contested theEurocentric view of alien cultures as primitive.[12] During this period, he took the nameKarenga (Swahili for "keeper of tradition") and the titleMaulana (Swahili-Arabic for "master teacher").[10]
TheWatts riots broke out when Karenga was a year into his doctoral studies. The Black Congress (BC) was formed as a community-rebuilding organization in the aftermath. Within the BC, a discussion group centered onblack nationalist ideas, called the Circle of Seven, was formed, which includedHakim Jamal (a cousin ofMalcolm X) and Karenga. The group publishedUS Magazine (meaning "Us black people") and in 1966 formed an organization called US.[13] The organization joined in several community revival programs and was featured in press reports. Karenga cited Malcolm X'sAfro-American Unity program as an influence onUS Organization's work:
Malcolm was the major African American thinker that influenced me in terms of nationalism andPan-Africanism. As you know, towards the end, when Malcolm is expanding his concept of Islam, and of nationalism, he stresses Pan-Africanism in a particular way. And he argues that, and this is where we have the whole idea that cultural revolution and the need for revolution, he argues that we need a cultural revolution, he argues that we must return to Africa culturally and spiritually, even if we can't go physically. And so that's a tremendous impact on US.[14]
Karenga soon diverged from Malcolm X's ideas on Black nationalism and took US in a direction more focused on promoting African culture. Jamal and other adherents to Malcolm X's ideas left the group.[15]
As racial disturbances spread across the country, Karenga appeared at a series ofBlack power conferences, joining other groups in urging the establishment of a separate political structure for African Americans.[16] US developed a youth component with paramilitary aspects called the Simba Wachanga, which advocated and practiced community self-defense and service to the masses.[16]
In 1966, Karenga founded the newspaperHarambee, which started as a newsletter for US and eventually became the newspaper for the Los Angeles Black Congress, an umbrella organization for several groups.[16]
During the late 1960s, US Organization became bitter rivals with theBlack Panther Party over their differing views on Black nationalism. TheFederal Bureau of Investigation intensified this antipathy as part of itsCOINTELPRO operations, sending forged letters to each group which purported to be from the other group, so that each would believe that the other was publicly humiliating them.[17] The rivalry came to a climax during 1969, with a series of armed confrontations and retaliatory shootings that left four Panthers dead, and more injured on both sides. A memorandum of the Los Angeles field office of the FBI dated May 26, 1970, confirmed that the surge of conflict suited their objectives and more would be encouraged:
It is intended that US, Inc. will be discreetly and appropriately advised of the time and locations of BPP activities in order that the two organizations might be brought together and thus grant nature the opportunity to take her due course.[18]
According to Louis Tackwood, a former informant with the Los Angeles Police Department's Criminal Conspiracies Section and author ofThe Glass House Tapes, Ronald Karenga was knowingly provided financial, arms, and other support by LAPD, with Tackwood as liaison, for US operations against the Black Panthers. Karenga enjoyed a level of trust among figures in government, includingLAPD Chief Thomas Reddin and California Governor Ronald Reagan.[18]
Karenga createdKwanzaa in 1966[19] to be the first pan-African holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."[20]
Kwanzaa is inspired by African"first fruit" traditions, and the name chosen is fromSwahili, "matunda ya kwanza."[21] The rituals of the holiday promote African traditions andNguzo Saba, the "seven principles of African Heritage" that Karenga described as "acommunitarian African philosophy":
In 1971, Karenga was sentenced to one to ten years in prison on counts of felony assault and false imprisonment.[22] A May 14, 1971, article in theLos Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women:
Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said. They also were hit on the heads with toasters.[23]
Jones and Brenda Karenga testified that Karenga believed the women were conspiring to poison him, which Davis has attributed to a combination of ongoing police pressure and his owndrug abuse.[10][24]
Karenga denied any involvement in the torture, and argued that the prosecution was political in nature.[10][25] He was imprisoned at theCalifornia Men's Colony, where he studied and wrote on feminism,Pan-Africanism, and other subjects. The US Organization fell into disarray during his absence and was disbanded in 1974. After he petitioned several black state officials to support his parole on fair sentencing grounds, it was granted in 1975.[26]
Karenga has declined to discuss the convictions with reporters and does not mention them in biographical materials.[24] During a 2007 appearance atWabash College, he again denied the charges and described himself as a former political prisoner.[27]
After his parole, Karenga re-established the US Organization under a new structure.[7]
He was awarded his first PhD in leadership and human behavior in 1976 from United States International University (later merged intoAlliant International University) for a dissertation titled "Afro-American Nationalism: Social Strategy and Struggle for Community".[28] In 1977, he formulated a set of principles calledKawaida, aSwahili term fornormal. Karenga called on African-Americans to adopt hissecular humanism and reject other practices asmythical.[29][need quotation to verify]
He was also the director of the Kawaida Institute for Pan African Studies and the author of several books, including hisIntroduction to Black Studies, a comprehensive Black/African Studiestextbook now in its fourth edition (2010), originally published in 1982. He is also known for having co-hosted, in 1984, a conference that gave rise to theAssociation for the Study of Classical African Civilizations.
In 1994, he was awarded a second PhD in social ethics from theUniversity of Southern California for a dissertation titled "Maat, the moral ideal in ancient Egypt: A study in classical African ethics."[30] In 1995, he sat on the organizing committee and authored the mission statement of theMillion Man March.[31][32]
Karenga delivered a eulogy at the 2001 funeral service ofNew Black Panther Party leaderKhalid Abdul Muhammad, praising him for his organizing activities and commitment to black empowerment. In 2002, scholarMolefi Kete Asante listed Maulana Karenga on his list of100 Greatest African Americans.[33]
As of 2023, Karenga chairs theAfricana Studies Department atCalifornia State University, Long Beach.[8][34]
The seven-day holiday Kwanzaa ... was originated by Ron "Maulana" Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett)
Ronald McKinley Everett was born in 1941. Maulana Kerenga was born sometime in 1963.
