Akinyele Umoja is a professor of African-American studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He attributes the popularity of Kwanzaa to its nonreligious nature.

Ama Mazama is a professor in the African-American studies department at Temple University in Philadelphia. She wrote a book about Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa ou la Célébration du Génie Africain, that was published in France in 2006.

Maulana Karenga is the founder of the holiday Kwanzaa. Karenga is a professor of black studies at California State University in Long Beach.

Monsignor Arturo J. Bañuelas is the pastor of St. Mark’s Catholic Church in El Paso, Texas. He founded the Tepeyac Institute and is nationally known for his expertise on border issues and culture. Bañuelas edited Mestizo Christianity: Theology from the Latino Perspective (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2004).

David Sanchez teaches theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He researches Guadalupan studies and iconography.

The Rev. Gilberto Cavazos-González, a Friar Minor (Franciscan), is associate professor of spirituality and directs the Hispanic ministry program at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. He writes a weekly column on Hispanic/Latino faith traditions.

Jeanette Rodriguez, a professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University, wrote Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith and Empowerment Among Mexican-American Women (University of Texas Press, 1994).

Theresa Torres is assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, religious studies and anthropology at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.  She studies U.S. Hispanic Catholics, Hispanic women’s religious and civic activism, and immigration/refugee issues.

The Pew Hispanic Center is part of the Pew Research Center. It researches the growing Hispanic population in the United States and works to understand its impact.