On Sunday, February 25, 2024, the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO) in conjunction with the International African Arts Festival (IAAFestival) will commemorate and celebrate the 55th Anniversary of the founding of the EAST Cultural and Educational Center for People of African Descent with a showing of the documentary, The Sun Rises In the EAST. It will be followed by a presentation by Dr. Segun Shabaka, a former member of the EAST and current chair of the IAAFestival and NAKO, and a discussion.

The EAST was a multi-faceted community institution dedicated to Kawaida Cultural Nationalism and Black Power, self-determination, self-defense, and self-respect. The Kawaida philosophy and its guiding principles (the Nguzo Saba) undergirded and facilitated the institution’s building of several institutions, including a school, daycare, cultural center, co-op, a major music venue as well as the current International African Arts Festival. Almost from its inception, the EAST Cultural and Education Center for People of African Descent adopted Dr. Maulana Karenga’s Philosophy of Kawaida (Tradition and Reason), defined as an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.
This program titled ‘The EAST and Black Power’ will be a visual walk into the history and culture of the organization as well as its local, national, and international activities. The EAST Family, as its members defined themselves, had a global reach that still resonates today. The program will look at some of these.
The February 25th program will take place from 3 pm to 5 pm, at 1360 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY, Suite 401.
For further information and to reserve your seat, please call 718-789-3264; 718-638-6700 or email nakoinfogroup@yahoo.com