Kwanzaa’s founder graduated from William Penn
The York theater group Dreamwrights’ current production contains brief historical observations about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Unless I missed it in the rapid-fire dialogue in “The Night Before Christmas,” the actors covered the fact that Maulana Karenga founded Kwanzaa, but never mentioned that he was from York.
Then known as Ron Everett, Kwanzaa’s founder graduated from William Penn High School in 1958… .
He went on to receive doctorates from United States International University and the University of Southern California and for years served as chairman of the black studies department at California State University, Long Beach.
The seven-day celebration starts on Dec. 26 and marks black cultural unity.
One hears of such omissions of local tie-ins to national events fairly often. For example, when teaching about the Articles of Confederation, some York County social studies teachers don’t connect America’s first framework of government with their adoption in York. The Continental Congress took this action during their nine-month visit in 1777.
Seems to me that part of the education process is to help students think across disciplines and connect dots about national figures and events and their local impact.
