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WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

-ALTHOUGH WE ARE STRONG BELIEVERS IN THE CULTURE OF HIP HOP, WE AS ZULUS REALIZE THAT THIS IS A REAL WORLD, WITH REAL PROBLEMS AND REAL SOLUTIONS. SO, AS A ZULU FAMILY WE WILL STRIVE TO DO OUR BEST TO UPLIFT OURSELVES FIRST-THEN SHOW OTHERS HOW TO UPLIFT THEMSELVES MENTALLY, SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY, ECONOMICALLY AND SOCIALLY.

WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

To educate, develop and improve the present state of mind of adults and youth around the world.

To spread our message of love, peace and unity amongst all races through our ways and actions.

To preserve the culture of Hip-Hop and all art forms created from it and to use music as a medium for cultural exchange and understanding.

To provide a safe haven to nurture the inherent genius of adults and youth around the world.

To assist others in developing careers and opportunities as they express their God-given potential and talents.

WHO CAN GET INVOLVED WITH THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

Anyone who believes in our goals and can thrive individually and in group settings should consider membership. We will consider working with any organization that believes as we do. This means that we will consider joint projects with organizations that exists to serve our community. We also encourage all women, senior citizens, and children to consider becoming members. The only way we can rise as a people is by forgetting our differences and looking again to our families, friend, and support systems, for solutions to problems (instead of watching for some other person to tell us what to do).

WHERE DID THE NAME 'ZULU NATION' COME FROM?

The Zulu Nation is a great South African tribe that became as empire under the leadership of Shaka Zulu, one of the greatest Zulu Chieftains (Leaders).

WHAT DOES THE WORD 'ZULU' MEAN IN RELATION TO THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

The word means "the Heavens" and "Strength in Numbers".

WHAT DOES THE WORD 'AMAZULU' MEAN TO THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

The word Amazulu means "The People of Heaven".

WHAT IS THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

The Universal Zulu Nation is an organization of men, women, and youth which was founded in the United States by a Nubian (Black) man named Afrika Bambaataa. This organization has hundreds of chapters throughout the world. Its members, who came from many different races, cultures, nationalities, countries and religions believe in freedom, justice, equality, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Zulu Nation members discourage divisions and want to see peace and unity on the planet Earth with all races. Without these, we all face social, economic, physical and spiritual destruction. This is the Universal Zulu Nation.

WHEN AND WHERE WAS THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION FOUNDED?

The Universal Zulu Nation was founded in 1973 in the Bronx, New York, by a young student named Afrika Bambaataa. It was his idea to use music to spread the message of the Universal Zulu Nation. He knew that music is Universal and crosses all barriers. So with the birth of Hip-Hop, which started in New York City, Afrika Bambaataa, members of the Zulu Nation and many of his groups like; the Soulsonic Force, Shango, Rock Steady Crew, D.S.T., Fab Five Freddy, Phase 2, Dondi, and Futura 2000, started to travel throughout the world to spread Hip-Hop Culture.

WHAT IS THE MISSION OF THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION?

As we are dedicated to improving and uplifting ourselves and our communities, all Zulu Nation members should be involved in some activity that is positive and gives back to the community. Hip-Hop music is our vehicle of expression. We can learn to write, produce, market, promote, publish, perform and televise our own music, for our own people. There are too many divisions between males and females. There are too many divisions between young adults and their parents and too many divisions between rich and poor-urban and suburban. Now is the time for us to build together as well as develop individually. All of the ills and problems that plague our community, we are going to address. We already know Hip-Hop and the Zulu Nation are here to stay. Both are over twenty years old and both exist and thrive across the world. Some of the projects we plan to organize and become involved with are:

canned food drives
tutoring sessions
home and building clean-ups
mentoring programs
neighborhood protection
seminars
conferences
newsletters
magazines
books
concerts
programs that close the gaps between the generations and the sexes

In 1986, Ice-T personally recalled being named a Zulu King by the son of Bambaataa, Afrika Islam. That same year, he noted creating the Rhyme Syndicate, which “ran off the Zulu principles, but didn’t use the name Zulu because Los Angeles was in a gang mentality at that time.” Four years later, in 1990, Afrika Islam made his home in the City of Angels and personally inducted his choice members into the Nation.

For the life of the original Los Angeles Chapter, the focus was unity and music. Events like “Water the Bush” and “United Nations” called together the Hiphop community of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles chapter was also mainly responsible for launching Ice-T’s musical career. Afrika Islam’s talents can be most recognized via the production of Ice-T’s notorious song, “Colors”, in addition to assisting with Ice-T’s platinum albums. Almost a decade after the birth of this chapter, Afrika Islam moved to Europe and the Los Angeles members slowly started to focus less on the chapter, and more on their careers and their families.

Today, the Los Angeles Chapter has moved beyond the constraints of a community consisting primarily of artists and entertainers. Of course, many of the members are talented DJs, B-Kids, MCs, and Graffiti Writers in their own right. But among them stand community activists and professionals of all walks of life. The Los Angeles chapter, as the West Coast Headquarters of the Universal Zulu Nation, stands by Bambaataa’s vision of creating our own self-sustaining nation within a nation.