Dr. Kamau Rashidi Kambon
Life & Legacy.
Also known as Baba Kamau Kambon and, in Ghana, Nana Kwasi Agyeman — educator, author, community builder and Pan-Afrikan elder.
A life of service
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Kamau Kambon graduated from Boys High School in 1961 and went on to the University of Rhode Island, where he earned a B.A. in education and history (1967) and later a master’s degree in physical education (1970). He began his career teaching high school social studies in Westerly, Rhode Island, and directed URI’s Summer Pre-Matriculation Program, preparing high school graduates for college.
At Teachers College, Columbia University, he earned an M.A. (1972), an M.Ed. in educational administration (1973) and, in 1977, a Doctor of Education in Urban Education with a specialization in curriculum development. In 1974 he directed Project Broad Jump at Columbia’s Horace Mann School — a summer program in reading, mathematics, science and culture for junior high school Black boys from Harlem.
From 1974 to 1980 he served as Coordinator of Area Development at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Brooklyn, coordinating its youth, health, cultural and Hispanic outreach centers and creating the Juvenile Intervention and Enlightenment Program (J.I.E.P.) to keep young people out of the criminal justice system.
In 1982 he joined the faculty of Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he taught education and psychology for eighteen years. He created the Kambon Comprehensive Lesson Plan, ran a Title III–funded HomeWork Helper Program that served more than 650 children over ten years, placed over 300 pre-service teachers in local schools, and was voted Professor of the Year by students. From 1995 to 2004 he was also a Special Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at North Carolina State University, teaching Introduction to Black Studies and Introduction to Afrikan Civilization.
Timeline
Milestones.
- 1961
Graduates from Boys High School, Brooklyn, New York.
- 1967
B.A. in education/history, University of Rhode Island; teaches high school social studies in Westerly, R.I.
- 1968–1974
Counselor, then director, of URI’s Summer Pre-Matriculation Program.
- 1970–1973
Master’s in physical education (URI); M.A. and M.Ed. (Teachers College, Columbia).
- 1974
Directs Project Broad Jump at Horace Mann School, Columbia University.
- 1974–1980
Coordinator of Area Development, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation.
- 1977
Ed.D. in Urban Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.
- 1982–2000
Assistant Professor of Education, Saint Augustine’s College, Raleigh, N.C.
- 1994
Co-founds BlackNificent Books and the Bennu Cultural Center with Dr. Mawiyah Kambon.
- 1995–2004
Special Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, North Carolina State University.
- 1998
Publishes The Last Book, source of the Blacknificent definition.
- Later years
Repatriates with his family to Abibiman — Ghana, West Afrika.
- December 28, 2023
Makes his transition in Accra, Ghana, and begins his journey toward Ancestorhood in Asamando.
“Research, research, research”
In the classroom Dr. Kambon held to an “educational imperative”: students were given an issue, a problem or a subject and asked to research it themselves — “and double check and triple check” — rather than accept anyone’s opinion, regardless of title, credentials, wealth or status.
He believed the most lasting learning is self-initiated learning, and that beyond critical thinking, critical listening and critical evaluation are the essential skills: to hear the news and ask, “What is the real meaning of this story, and is it the truth?”
In eighteen years at Saint Augustine’s College he never took a sick day, never took a vacation day, and in ten years missed only one class — to hear Dr. Ben speak on campus.
An institution for the community
BlackNificent Books &
the Bennu Cultural Center.
Founded March 5, 1994, by Dr. Kamau Kambon and Dr. Mawiyah Kambon, the bookstore and cultural center became a gathering place in Southeast Raleigh where community could read, listen, learn and organize.
The Kambons worked “up close and personal, at ground zero” with families, the unhoused, people fighting addiction, and those in and returning from prison. They formed committees in support of Black political prisoners and Black farmers facing land loss, created an environmental awareness program, and paid out of their own pockets to bring speakers to the Bennu Cultural Center — among them Ramona Africa, Tony Browder, Neely Fuller Jr., Kwame Ture, Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad, Del Jones, Shahrazad Ali, Pam Africa, Jamil Al-Amin, Dr. Ben and Dr. Barashango.
Ancestorhood
Home to Abibiman.
Baba Kamau Kambon repatriated with his family to Ghana — Abibiman, the land of Black people. On Thursday, December 28th, 2023, in Accra, he made his transition. Following Akan tradition, his life was celebrated at Abibitumi Headquarters in Ghana with one-week and 40th-day observances, joined by family and community around the world.