Skip to main content
Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Maulana Karenga

Celebrating Black Women’s History: Achievements, Strengths and Struggles

By Commentaries/Opinions, Dr. Maulana Karenga

As we mark this year’s Black History Month II: Women Focus, we will again pay rightful homage to the pioneers, heroines, and way-makers who made ways out of no- way, who opened up ways for so many others, breaking down barriers, crossing boundaries, creating and increasing opportunities for women and girls, and others marginalized and excluded, and making great sacrifices and strides in the service of women, our people and humankind.

Read More
Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Maulana Karenga

Black History, Red Tails & Tuskegee: Critical Conversations ‘Bout Ourselves

By Commentaries/Opinions, Dr. Maulana Karenga

No matter what we think, say or write about the movie Red Tails, about its message, meaning, worthiness or weight, the discussion is ultimately and unavoidably about us, about how we perceive and understand ourselves, what we accept as real and rightful representations of us, and how we read and relate to the historical and current lived experience and initiatives of our lives in the context of both oppression and “constrained freedom.”

Read More
Commentary, Articles and Essays by Dr. Maulana Karenga

Defeating HIV / AIDS: The Perpetual Achievement of the Impossible

By Commentaries/Opinions, Dr. Maulana Karenga

As we marked this National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we could not avoid noticing that the issue of HIV/AIDS has become less urgent on the country’s agenda, that one of the once most vocal and active racial groups now has sufficient government monies, medicines and means to move on to advocate for other things, while real and potential Black victims are left to fend for themselves and make do or die on the remaining meager resources. For this is the way power and race work in this country and the world, in spite of self-deluding post-racial prattle and misconceptions about negotiation instead of struggle, and transactional trade without the power of an engaged people.

Read More

False Prophets

By Commentaries/Opinions

“Islam sees him as a son of Islam … I can’t say categorically that (the president is not Muslim) because Islam has gotten a free pass under Obama.” – Rev. Franklin Graham

Those words, and others, were spoken by Rev. Franklin Graham on the MSNBC program “Morning Joe” yesterday morning…

Read More

Slavery By Another Name

By Commentaries/Opinions, War on the “War on Drugs” Posts

Last night’s compelling PBS documentary Slavery by Another Name is a painful reminder of the depths to which this nation invested in white supremacy. The story of how Blacks in post-Civil War America were cast into corporate slavery and exploited by the “rule of law” to enrich economic elites and provide poor whites the comfort of relative advantage by race should widen the public’s understanding of racial disparities that are evident today.

Read More