Kwanzaa creator honored Pratsara Kantathavorn

By Pratsara Kantathavorn, On-line Forty-Niner

June 18,1998

Dr. Maulana Karenga, chairman of the black studies department at Cal State Long Beach, was recently given an honorary doctorate of philosophy from the University of Durban-Westville in South Africa.

The honorary doctorate was given to Karenga for his "intellectual and practical work on behalf of African people" nationally and internationally, Dr. D.L. Shauffer said, the orator of the university, as quoted in a press release.

Karenga said this honor was important to him because South Africa was the central focus for the African struggle.

Karenga holds a doctorate in political science from the United States International University, San Diego and a doctorate in social ethics from the University of Southern California.

Karenga has been at CSULB since 1979 and became chair of the department in 1989. "Those of us at Cal State Long Beach have long been familiar with Dr. Karenga's achievements and we congratulate him on his latest honor," CSULB President Robert Maxson said in a CSULB press release.

Karenga created the African-American holiday Kwanzaa, which celebrates family, community and culture. This holiday has been celebrated since 1966. More than 26 million people on every continent, all over the African world celebrate this holiday from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, Karenga said.

There are seven principles, one for each day of the week. "All activities are dedicated to learning, teaching, discussing and practicing these principles," Karenga said.

In 1997 Karenga was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with the release of a stamp honoring Kwanzaa. When asked how he felt about this honor, Karenga said that the honor belongs not only to himself, but to his family and people all over that embrace Kwanzaa and made it a thing of beauty.

Karenga also said that success is a product of all the people that contributed to his life and made it beautiful and good.

"I want my students to walk away with an expanded sense of human possibility, of a profound respect for the richness and goodness of human diversity, a critical understanding of the world and a sincere commitment to a shared responsibility to build the world we all want and deserve to live in," Karenga said.