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Re-engaging Kawaida Cultural Nationalism and Political Struggle in the 21st Century: Lessons from Maulana Karenga and Us

Fri, March 18, 9:00 to 10:15am, Omni Charlotte Hotel, Floor: Main Floor, Birch Room

Abstract

Maulana Karenga has argued, “The problem with most people who do not understand cultural nationalism is that they see cultural nationalism in terms of a narrow definition of culture which deals with the arts, whereas we of Us, which is a Revolutionary Party with a correct revolutionary ideology (Kawaida), see culture as a total value system and institutions to maintain and develop that value system.”

This presentation interrogates Kawaida Cultural Nationalism and the historical praxis of the organization US to identify additional approaches to increase the momentum of the ongoing struggle for Black liberation in the 21st century. Attention is focused on specific strategies developed by Maulana Karenga and his compatriots to address concrete impediments to a wholesome life for African Americans. These interventions include: organizing a cadre of technicians and specialists grounded in Kawaida philosophy; building alliances of community organizations using Kawaida philosophy as an organizing nexus; mobilizing conscious poets, writers, performers, and visual artists; and initiating culturally-engaged cooperative community-based economic projects. It is argued that Kawaida cultural nationalism can effectively undergird new variants of these strategies that can both confront challenges that have arisen in the current phase of the liberation struggle and enhance the transformative capacity of new community-based formations such as the “Black Lives Matter Movement.”

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