Dr. Maulana Karenga, creator of the pan-African cultural holiday Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) and author of the authoritative text titled Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture joins.

Dr. Karenga is professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at California State University—Long Beach.

An activist-scholar, he is chair of the organization Us and the National Association of Kawaida Organizations; and Executive director of the African American Cultural Center and the Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies; and also, co-chair of the Black Community, Clergy and Labor Alliance, BCCLA.

Dr. Karenga is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and books including:

Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis

Kawaida and Questions of Life and Struggle

Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics

Introduction to Black Studies, 4th Edition

Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt

Odu Ifa: The Ethical Teachings

He is currently writing a major work on the social and ethical philosophy of Malcolm X, entitled The Liberation Ethics of Malcolm X: Critical Consciousness, Moral Grounding and Transformative Struggle.

Dr. Karenga is the recipient of numerous awards for scholarship, leadership and service including the Paul Robeson-Zora Neale Hurston Award for Scholarly Work of African World Culture and The C.L.R. James Award for Outstanding Publication of Scholarly Works that Advance the Discipline of Africana and Black Studies, and the Presidential Award for Exemplary Service and Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Black Studies, all from the National Council for Black Studies

He is also the subject of the book by Dr. Molefi Asante entitled, Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait.