By Maulana Karenga
The University of Sankore Press
1993
ISBN 0-943412-16-1
531 pages (including the index)

Almost 30 years ago when I was a classroom teacher in the Dayton, Ohio public school system, I was asked to teach a course in Black History. While preparing the syllabus, it dawned on me that although I had graduated from a historically Black University with a major in History, I knew very little about the subject. I then began a personal mental reclamation project in an attempt to rescue and reconstruct my humanity. Dr. Karenga’s Introduction To Black Studies was a welcome addition to this ongoing project. Dr. Charles Henry, Professor, African American Studies, UC Berkeley says, "Maulana Karenga’s Introduction To Black Studies is simply the best text available on the subject," and I agree with this assessment. Dr. James B. Stewart of Penn State University says "the volume reflects throughout, the commitment to solid analytical inquiry that characterizes the scholarship of its author."

According to the author, the basic aim of the book is to offer a definitive introduction to Black Studies and also provide the student with a concise but substantive intellectual base for a critical understanding and discussion of the discipline. Dr. Karenga says the text is structured around the following objectives:

1. to introduce and define the origins, relevance and scope of Black Studies;
2. to introduce, define and discuss critically the seven core areas of Black Studies, i.e. Black History, Black Religion, Black Social Organization, Black Politics, Black Economics, Black Creative Production and Black Psychology;
3. to introduce and define key concepts in the discipline and each subject area;
4. to delineate fundamental issues and areas for critical discussion in the discipline and its subject areas;
5. to introduce and discuss critically major challenges facing Black Studies;
6. to introduce fundamental literature in the discipline of Black Studies and its core subject areas; and
7. to raise provocative questions about the Black experience which cultivate the use of and an appreciation for inquiry and analysis as indispensable tools to an effective grasp and critical discussion of black Studies.

The first chapter discusses the origin, relevance and scope of Black Studies as a whole. Each following chapter explores in depth one of the core subject areas. At the end of each chapter are study questions and references "aimed at encouraging and facilitating inquiry and analysis by the student." I bought the text not long after it was published and my goal was to read at least half of the listed references and answer all of the questions at the end of each chapter. When I expressed this goal to Dr. Karenga, he responded with an affectionate but knowing smile. He obviously knew that my goal was destined to become a "dream deferred." He politely suggested that I read the complete text for a definitive introduction to the field of Black Studies and then choose specific core areas on which to concentrate. Following his suggestion I read the complete volume and chose Black History and Black Religion as my areas of concentration. The chapter on Black Religion is prototypical of the level of inquiry and critical analysis provided in Dr. Karanga’s discussion of each of the seven core areas of Black Studies. And the following study questions, found at the end of the chapter, are indicative of the depth and breadth of the scholarship inherent in this work.

1. Define religion and list some of the major African American religious traditions.
2. What are some general characteristics and general themes in African religions?
3. Discuss the ideas suggested by the Dogon cosmogony.
4. What is the Egyptian legacy and some of the basic ethical teachings of the Maatian tradition?
5. Why did enslaved Africans convert to Christianity?
6. What has been the historical role of the Black church?
7. Cite some basic tenets of Dr. Martin Luther King’s socio-political philosophy and his ideological impact on Black religion and the Civil Rights Movement.
8. What are some of the basic contentions of Malcolm X’s social-ethical philosophy and his ideological impact on Black religion and the liberation movements of the 1960s?
9. Who are two major Black liberation theologians and what are some of their basic theories?
10. What are the challenges posed by Black womanist theology as argued by Jacqueline Grant? How does she address them?
11. Discuss Katie Cannon’s womanist ethics and her use of Black women’s literature to develop them.
12. Discuss the contentions and religious legacy of the Moorish Science Temple in relationship to the Nation of Islam.
13. Discuss the philosophy of Messenger Elijah Muhammad.
14. What factors contributed to the conflict between Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam (NOI)?
15. What are some of the factors which contributed to the transformation of the NOI after the death of Messenger Muhammad?
16. What are the challenges posed for Minister Louis Farrakhan in rebuilding the NOI?

With thought provoking questions of this genre following a scholarly and well documented discussion of each of the seven core subject areas, Maulana Karenga’s Introduction To Black Studies is must reading for anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the discipline.

Omobowale Adubiifa is a Yoruba priest under the auspices Imole Oluwa Institute of Nigeria and an Associate priest in the Ifa Shrine/Temple headed by Chief Bolu Fatunmise of Ile-Ife Nigeria and Atlanta Georgia. He is aka Langston X. Thomas, J.D freelance journalist who contributes to several black newspapers across the country. His email address is adubifa@airnet.net.