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Of the six overlapping characteristics of black nationalism:
cultural nationalism, religious nationalism, economic nationalism,
political nationalism, and pan-Africanism, Maulana Karenga and the US organization, which will be
the focus of this programemphasized cultural nationalism.Founded by Maulana Karenga in
1965, the US organization and cultural nationalism emphasizes that black people have a culture,
style of life, and approach to the problems of existence that is distinct from white Americans in
particular and westerners in general.
As such black cultural nationalists tend to place a heavy emphasis on African-centered education religion
and culture. This collective identity informs--from a cultural nationalist perspective--
African-Americans historical and prospective mission and unique contributions to humanity.
The definition of culture as US organization saw it, is a complete value system as well as a means of
maintaining that value system.Cultural nationalists tend to look at adoption of European culture--
everything from Europeanlanguages, religious practices, holidays, customs, traditions,
and even political and economic structure-- as counterproductive for persons of African descent.
That view is justified when we look at the problems of the African continent that are
largely rooted in colonialism and the radical transformation of the African continent as a legacy of
European colonization.Cultural nationalist further believe that the problems visible on the
African continent as a result of cultural imperialism are sharedby persons of African descent
throughout the world.It is for that reason that black cultural nationalist such as Maulana
Karenga promote an African-centered world view as a remedy tothe European centered way of
being, which Karenga and other black nationalists see as a root cause for African and African
American self-hatred and self-destructive behavior. Because as persons of African descent
worldwide the very language we use to express ourselves is often the very language of a colonial
oppressors, each cultural nationalists have sought to replace that language with one that is
African-centered It is for that reason that Kiswahili, or Swahili has special appeal to African
American cultural nationalists. Swahili is a pan-African language spoken by a broad range of
ethnicities and regions throughout eastern and Central Africa and parts of Southern Africa. As
Karenga stated 1966, "We don't know what tribe we came from, so we chose an African language that
is non-tribal which is widely spoken in Africa.
"At the second Congress of African writers, held in Rome in 1966,Kiswahili came to be seen as
the optimum choice for a continent-wide adoption of a single African language. As an alternative to
European notions of blackness, Karenga articulated his own principles of blackness, or "Nguzo
Saba. "Those principles--"Umoja" (unity), "Kujichagulia" (self-determination), "Ujima" (collective
work and responsibility), "Ujamaa" (cooperative economics), "Nia" (purpose), "Kuumba" (creativity),
and "Imani" (faith)--are each celebrated over the seven days of Kwanzaa. Organization US founder
Maulana Karenga explains:
". . . and so I created Kwanzaa for three basic reasons. First, to reaffirm our rootedness in
African culture. Because even though we are African people, due to thethe holocaust of enslavement,
we were lifted out of our own history, and made a footnote and forgotten casualty in European
history. And so the struggle we were waging, as Kabron said, is to return to our history, and to
use it to enrich and expand our lives. Secondly, I created Kwanzaa in order to give us a time when we
as African people all over the world could come together, reaffirm the bonds between us, and meditate on
the meaning and awesome responsibility responsibility of being African in a world. And certainly it
has flowered because of that. Because if you look at how it has grown, over 28, 000, 000 people
celebrate this holiday on every continent in the world throughout the world African community. And
the third reason I created Kwanzaa was to introduce and reinforce the importance of African culture and
African communitarian values. And by communitarian values, I mean values that stress and strengthen
family, community, and culture. These are our strengths.
US organization, in further defining blackness, articulated the Kanuni--21 rules and behavioral
characteristics differentiating their adherents from the general populace. Among them: Advocates
shall refrain from unnecessary or loud talking or screaming, smoking, drinking, profanity, and horseplay.
Refrain from disrespecting each other in terms of their roles as men and women, advocates, and
officers. Refrain from playboyism and playgirlism, and refrain from using physical force against each
other in settlement of disputes. So here we see a few examples of how cultural black nationalists focus
on redefining what culture is for persons of African descent. It's important to understand that this
redefinition of culture is an effort to shape the way black people view themselves on the most
fundamental way. As Karenga states everything that we do, think, or learn is somehow interpreted as
a cultural expression. That includes not only customs and behaviors, but as we've seen, it also includes
language religion politics and economics and the reshaping of all those elements into an African-
centered world view.