"Bringing Good Into the World"

Statement at the U.S. Postal Service Kwanzaa Stamp Release Natural History Museum--October 22, 1997 Los Angeles, California Dr. Maulana Karenga, Creator of Kwanzaa Professor and Chair, Department of Black Studies, CSULB

Ladies and Gentlemen, young girls and boys, distinguished guests in the audience and on the dais, this is surely a historic moment of marking and joyful celebration and I certainly view it with joyful satisfaction for my role in it. But in a larger sense, this historic moment belongs to all who made it possible. Indeed, in African tradition, we are taught that we should never claim solitary achievement. Not because we do not have and demonstrate personal initiative and creativity, but because we realize that in a real and profound sense all that we do bears the clear imprint of those who have touched and contributed to our lives and to each project we engage in in meaningful and decisive ways.

*Material on this site is summarized from:
Maulana Karenga (2008).
Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture.
Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press
(www.sankorepress.com)