The Seven Principles

First International Virtual Celebration of Kwanzaa With Its Founder, Dr. Maulana Karenga

Sentinel News ServiceDecember 24, 2020

This celebration of the 54th anniversary of Kwanzaa will include virtual, live and taped highlights of performances by internationally known artists from the 49th Annual International African Arts Festival, including the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theatre. At the center of the celebration will be Dr. Karenga’s Annual Founder’s Kwanzaa Message titled: “Kwanzaa and the Well-Being of the World: Living and Uplifting the Seven Principles.”

Dr. Maulana Karenga

Concerning Kwanzaa, Race and Religion: Particular, Universal and Common Ground

Dr. Maulana KarengaDecember 17, 2020

This is a revisiting of an early and ongoing conversation about the shared meaning of Kwanzaa, its particular cultural message to African people, and its core values that speak to the best of what it means to be African and human in the world and for the world. It raises the constantly relevant issues of race and religion and how they relate, not only to Kwanzaa as a holiday, but also to us as a people.

Dr. Maulana Karenga

Remembering the Million Man March: Reflections on Memory and Mission

Dr. Maulana KarengaOctober 15, 2020

This is in remembrance, reflection and uncompromising reaffirmation of our people and their radically transformative struggle. There is so much damage done to memory and mission in our lives and to our sense of self by large and small concessions to the constant call to let go and move on regardless of what is lost or left behind. We sacrifice so much in our rush to forget, stay in style or keep in harmony with the official writers and rulers of society.

Education International National News

International Conference Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of The Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles)

Special to the SentinelOctober 8, 2020

A wide range of Black scholars, activists, teachers, students and community members from the national and global African community will join in discussions of critical issues confronting Black people nationally and internationally which begins this Sunday, October 11, 3:00pm at the virtual International Nguzo Saba 2020 Conference and will continue over the month. The conference marks the 55th Anniversary of The Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles), the Organization Us and the African American Cultural Center. Focus will be especially on the Nguzo Saba and their use by thousands of organizations and institutions in this country and throughout the world African community for value orientation, cultural grounding and programmatic initiatives.

Dr. Maulana Karenga Opinion

Symbols and Insights of Kwanzaa: Deep Meanings and Expansive Message

Dr. Maulana KarengaDecember 5, 2019

Kwanzaa was conceived as a special time and space for celebrating, discussing and meditating on the rich and varied ways of being and becoming African in the world. It invites us all to study continuously its origins, principles and practices and it teaches us, in all modesty, never to claim we know all that is to be known about it or that our explanations are only for those who do not know much about its message and meaning. For each year each of us should read and reread the literature, reflect on the views and values of Kwanzaa and share conversations about how it reaffirms our rootedness in African culture and brings us together all over the world in a unique and special way to celebrate ourselves as African people. One focus for such culturally-grounded conversation is on the deep meanings and message embedded in the symbols of Kwanzaa which are rooted in Kawaida philosophy out of which Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba were created. Indeed, each symbol is a source and point of departure for a serious conversation on African views and values and the practices that are rooted in and reflect them.

Dr. Maulana Karenga Opinion

A Kawaida Rightful Reading of History: Culture, Consciousness and Struggle

Dr. Maulana KarengaJuly 18, 2019

In Reaffirmation for the 43rdAnniversary of the KIPAS Seminar in Kawaida Theory and Practice (21 July to 27 July 2019). A rightful reading of history and the signs of our times unavoidably evokes concerns and calls for a critical assessment of where we are and to what tasks we should direct our attention and efforts in our ongoing quest for a free and empowered community, a just and good society and a good and sustainable world.

Family History International National News News (Family)

Annual Founder’s Kwanzaa Message “Reimagining and Remaking the World: A Kwanzaa Commitment to An Inclusive Good”

Dr. Maulana KarengaDecember 20, 2018

Kwanzaa is a festival of harvest and celebration of the Good, the shared good, the shared good of field and forest, of fruit tree and flower, the shared good of wind and waters, rainfall and riverflow, of life and all living things, in a word, the shared good of the world in all its wonderful abundance.

Dr. Maulana Karenga Opinion

Remembering the Million Man Match: Reflections on Memory and Mission

Dr. Maulana KarengaOctober 25, 2018

There is so much damage done to memory and mission in our lives and to our sense of self by large and small concessions to the constant call to let go and move on regardless of what is lost or left behind. We sacrifice so much in our rush to forget, stay in style or keep in harmony with the official writers and rulers of society. However, whatever we are and will become, we must give appropriate attention to our history, in spite of all the counsel from outside to forget the past, worship the present and forfeit our future for things embraced and enjoyed now.