Fact Check: Was the Founder of Kwanzaa Convicted of Kidnapping and Torture?

The claim is true.

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Recent social media posts from right-wing college group Turning Point USA claim that the founder of Kwanzaa is a convicted felon who kidnapped and tortured two women. The posts further state that he now works at California State University at Long Beach.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Wow! You learn something new every day.

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    This is what happens with intersectionality--one set of victims loses to the other.

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  3. Christopher Smith

    I've heard this for years from pretty reliable sources and I'm still incredulous every time that it's true.

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    Antebellum Whig

    But hey, that's why pencils have erasers, right?

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    Victor Clairmont

    Crap, that’s crazy.

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    Pat Riot

    Whatabout Santa Claus?

    He systemically violated one of his reindeer's rights for *years* because of the different complexion of his snout and only gave him full rights as a normal member of society when he was *forced* to by circumstances (and in fact we don't know how Rudolph was treated after the news cycle died down that year).

    All of these winter holidays are all the same. They were all started by terrible people. There's no way to choose a good and moral option. You have no choice. You have to pick between evil and evil.

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      Xaveria

      I know you're being funny, but I am Catholic enough to point out that, even if we take Jesus out of the picture, St. Nick was reputed to sneak out at night to deliver dowries to destitute young women, who otherwise would remain unmarried and might be forced into prostitution. Good guy Santa :)

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      Mike B

      Yeah we need more info on reindeer diversity programs after that one foggy Christmas Eve. How many red-nosed reindeer are currently on the team? Are they paid the same and given equal opportunity for advancement? Rudolf is the only one we hear about - surely other red-nosed reindeer are equally qualified to be team leaders? And not just on foggy nights.

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      Lucas

      Clearly Karenga's key mistake was not being the center of enough holiday jingles.

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    BrettH

    That's insane. Man, progressive cancel culture really is a 1-way street.

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  8. Chris K

    Y'all often fact check crazy-sounding conspiracy theories and I think to myself "why do we even need to fact check this?"

    But here we are. I stand corrected for my skepticism.

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      Todd T

      Yep. I always look at the headline and see if it’s true or not. If not true I move along without opening. Pretty taken aback that this wasn’t fake.

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  9. Acre00

    Jeez, I knew he was a bit of a nutcase but I certainly didn't know this

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    Paul B

    Wow...not gonna lie, I expected a different result.
    This reads like the worst Snapple bottle cap fact ever.

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About Alec Dent

Alec Dent is the culture editor and a staff writer for The Dispatch. He is a graduate of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill, and previously oversaw The Dispatch's fact checking team.
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