Commentary, articles and essays written by Dr. Maulana Karenga
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — If we are to honor and rightfully appreciate our history and struggle to liberate ourselves and expand the realm of freedom and justice in this country, we must stand with Frederick Douglass at Rochester, New York in 1852, at every Fourth of July celebration. To stand with Douglass on this day is not only to read, discuss and study his July 4th speech, but to…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — (Remembering, reflecting and recommitting.) We cannot say it too often, stress it too much and certainly must never downplay in any way the definitive, determining and decisive role the principle and practice of righteous and relentless struggle have played in the self-conception, self-construction and self-assertion of our people and our organization Us, and the persons called into being and cultivated by both. For among the most defining…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — Our annual reflective and resistance-focused celebration of the birth and life of Min. Malcolm X, May 19th and African Liberation Day, May 25th, finds us confronting an especially dangerous, difficult and demanding time. It is a taxing time of dealing with two global interrelated challenges: the pandemic of COVID-19 and the pathology of oppression in which this virus and other natural diseases and social sicknesses…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — In this winter of pandemic devastation and an ice cold lack of official focus, concern and actions to address our unequal suffering and disproportionate number of deaths, there is talk of summer possibly lessening the overall impact of the virus. But even a lessening of the overall impact of the virus does not mean we will benefit equally or similarly by it. For like all the other trickle-down, “rising…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — In these troubled, troubling, tragic and trying times, more than ever, we must not only be a people in itself but also a people for itself. That is to say, a people who are not only different and distinct, but also self-consciously and actively so. In other words, they must be rightfully appreciative of themselves, deeply rooted in their own culture, and constantly and confidently drawing unlimited lessons from…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — The current and seemingly consensual wisdom is that this pandemic has exposed the fault lines of injustice and inequality in society. But it has also added in the problematic person of Trump another blow to the racist conception of Whiteness, its claims of superiority in leadership, salvational power, divine election and a perfect union. At the risk of seeming racially insensitive to White people, it…
Dr. Maulana Karenga — In reaffirmation. Those of us who still wage righteous and relentless struggle inwardly and outwardly to live a liberated, good and meaningful life will continuously find invaluable sources for grounding and growth in the enduringly relevant and deeply insightful sacred teachings of our ancestors found in the Odu Ifa, especially in this critical time. For it is about our natural and needed striving and struggle to…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — Indeed, it has been our history as a people to create free space in the midst of both the harshest and cleverly hidden oppression, lift up the light in the midst of the deep darkness that surrounds us, and carve out of the hard rock of reality a soulful beauty in the midst of unspeakable ugliness that otherwise would undermine and unrighteously affect us. It…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — To meet any and every challenge in life, we must anchor and equip ourselves, holding firmly to that which endures in the midst of that which is overthrown and passes away, and self-consciously and constantly preparing and provisioning ourselves for dealing with that which we must confront and achieve, resolve or overcome. We are now confronted with a very deadly, disruptive and destructive pandemic caused…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — In this time of pandemic, panic, hoarding and conversations about health and well-being that we are forced to have, I offer these thoughts again for mindful consideration. For it reaffirms the comprehensive meaning of health which has to do with the physical, psychological, spiritual and material well-being of all, especially self-consciously including the vulnerable. And it reminds us that if our people, society and the…
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