Sokoni Karanja means “A person from across the sea with knowledge” in Swahili. He founded the Centers for New Horizons in Chicago, a social service in the Bronzeville neighborhood to restore it as self-sufficient community with pride in its African and Black American history. He was inspired by Malcolm X, Julius Nyere, and the Black Metropolis of the 1920s. In the early 1970s he lived in and traveled around Tanzania building communities and schools. He was the Assistant Dean of Students at Brandeis University. He has been recognized as an expert in childhood and community development.

MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant
University of Chicago, Adlai Stevenson Fellow
Goldin Institute, Chicago Peace Fellow, Washington Park

Alumni:
Brandeis University, Urban Policy, PhD
University of Cincinnati, Master of Community Planning
Atlanta University, Master of Social Work
University of Denver, Master of Psychology
Washburn University
Ft. Scott Junior College
Topeka High School

Honorary Dr. Sokoni T. Karanja Way

East 42nd Street from South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to South Prairie Avenue

Approved: October 2016

Ward: 3
Alderman: Dowell
Neighborhood: Bronzeville

b. 1940 Lathan Johnson. Topeka, Kansas

Source

HistoryMakers