Did you know that “Kwanzaa,” that made-up holiday celebrated from December 26 through January 1, was invented by Ron N. Everett, known today as Dr. Maulana (Swahili for “master teacher”) Karenga? About Kwanzaa, Karenga said:
People think it’s African. But it’s not. I wanted to give black people a holiday of their own. So I came up with Kwanzaa. I said it was African because you know black people in this country wouldn’t celebrate it if they knew it was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that’s when a lot of bloods [blacks] would be partying!
Did you know that Karenga was a founder of “United Slaves”, a group that was quite similar in philosophy to the Black Panthers? The two groups had different tactics, but often competed for the same potential recruits. So an altercation was inevitable. On January 17, 1969, at a Black Student Union meeting at UCLA, Black Panther Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter was heard making derogatory comments about Karenga. Carter was shot to death. The Black Panthers swear it was preplanned.