Malika Kambe Umfazi is a sisterhood which promotes academic, philanthropic, social and cultural growth for all women of African descent; meaning Africans from the African continent, the Caribbean, the Americas and Latin America. Our goals are to foster the knowledge of Africa, knowledge of the contributions of women of African descent to the world and knowledge of ourselves.

Our name is a compilation of two African languages, Swahili and Zulu. "Malika" is Swahili for "queen", "Kambe" is Zulu for "naturally", and "Umfazi" is Zulu for "woman". The name is read from right to left as many societies of antiquity did. Thus our name means "Woman is Naturally Queen". In our society, women are so often mistreated, disregarded and disrespected; however her true status is to be revered, as that of royalty.

Malika holds a strong belief that our past shapes our future as African people. Thus, we are guided by our motto, "We must go back to our roots in order to move forward", or Sankofa. We operate on three principles which are:

Mahatma A person revered for high mindedness and selflessness
Kinship Relationship existing because of race, culture and background
Utilitarianism Stressing usefulness above beauty

Through our programs, we will stress issues affecting women of African descent:
Health - African women are among the poorest groups around the world and this has had an effect on the health care they receive and the health knowledge that they come into contact with. Malika's goal is to address the issue of women's health and devise ways to aid in health education and financial assistance with health care for women of African descent. This will also carry over into the health of our children, who have an extremely high rate of infant mortality.
Education - We believe that the key to our success as African women and as African people lies with education. Thus we aim to establish programs to aid elementary, high school and college age young women in their venture for education.
Economic Upliftment - Again, women of African descent tend to be amongst the poorest which has an effect on health, self esteem, and life in general. Malika will strive to find ways of improving the economic status of women of African descent.
Careers - The time is now for women of African descent to stand up and take their rightful place in this world. This can only be achieved when we become effective members of the work force. Thus, MKU has planned a series of career workshops, resume writing seminars, career fashion shows, etc. to help us achieve this goal.
Other foci involve people of African descent as a whole, dealing with our communities, our youth and our elderly. We believe that organizations are an effective way to help our community; however all organizations must branch out and work together to do this effectively. For this reason, Malika Kambe Umfazi Sorority Inc. is very willing to work with other fraternities, sororities, campus organizations and community organizations. Above all MKU is dedicated to service - the service of helping to uplift all people of African descent.

MKU - Benu Queendom of Malika