Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga is an American activist, scholar, and author. He is best known as the creator of Kwanzaa. Dr. Karenga is the author of 17 books and monographs and 4 co-edited books; 57 journal articles; 42 book chapters; over 650 columns and commentaries on critical issues; and numerous encyclopedia entries. Born Ronald McKinley Everett in Parsonsburg, Maryland, he is the 14th child of a Baptist minister. He moved to California in the late 1950s to attend Los Angeles City College. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of a federal program and received his Master's in political science and African studies. After meeting Malcolm X, Karenga began to embrace Black Nationalism, and after the Watts riots in 1965, he joined the Black Power movement. He changed his first name to "Maulana," Swahili for "master teacher.” Fly. Salute!