Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga  is an American activist, author and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Dr. Maulana Karenga is professor and chair of the department of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach. He holds two Ph.D.'s; his first doctorate in leadership and human behavior/political science with focus on the theory and practice of African American nationalism (United States International University) and his second doctorate in social ethics with a focus on the classical African ethics of ancient Egypt (University of Southern California). Professor Karenga, an ethical philosopher, is the leading exponent of Maatian ethical thought, having developed over the last three decades, a creative and scholarly Kawaida interpretation of ancient Egyptian ethical thought as a living tradition and a useful philosophical option for critical reflection on the urgent issues of our time.