‘One of York’s claims to fame’: Kwanzaa founder graduated from high school here

YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — He has never spoken publicly about it, as far as anyone knows, but longtime York residents have long said the founder of Kwanzaa graduated from William Penn Senior High School here. Dr. Maulana Karenga, who chairs the Africana studies department at California State University Long Beach, founded the seven-day holiday in 1965, according to numerous sources. A Britannica biography says he graduated from York’s high school in 1958. Karenga was formerly known as Ron Everett. “That’s one of York’s claims to fame,” said Ophelia Chambliss, vice president of the NAACP’s York chapter. “That’s a really important thing York can say that [it is] a part of.” Kelly Summerford, director of York’s William C. Goodridge Freedom Center…