Malcolm Kenyatta

Malcolm Kenyatta (born July 30, 1990) is a community activist and American politician [1][2][3] from North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who currently serves as a State Representative for the 181st District in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Malcolm Kenyatta
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 181st district
Assumed office
January 1, 2019
Preceded byCurtis Thomas
Personal details
Born (1990-07-30) July 30, 1990
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic
ResidencePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Early life

Kenyatta was born to the late Kelly Kenyatta, a nurse and home healthcare aide, and the late Malcolm J. Kenyatta, a social worker, at Temple University Hospital in North Central Philadelphia. His parents were active members of the community, notably for fostering and adopting children in the local neighborhood, including his three siblings, Cheree, Fatima, and Bilalh. As a family, they formed a gospel mime dance group called Chosen Mime Troop at their home church, Mount Zion BBNDC of Philadelphia, a non-denominational church. In 1997, they went on to win the famed Amateur Night at the Apollo Theatre in New York City in an untelevised show.[4]

Kenyatta is the grandson of the late civil rights activist Muhammad I. Kenyatta, who inspired his political interests, though he passed when Malcolm was only two years old.[5]

Education

Kenyatta is an alumnus of Temple University,[6] where he earned a bachelor's degree in public communications with a minor in political science, and studied public communications at Drexel University for a master's degree at their College of Arts and Sciences. He was active in political and social causes in college,[7] most notably leading student protests against Republican Governor Tom Corbett's budget cuts.[8] He was also engaged as a poet and artist, having begun his undergraduate career as a theatre major, which he changed late in his career and extended an extra year to graduate.[9][10] In his sophomore year, 2008, with the help of theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which won the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in 2016.[11] In 2019, Kenyatta completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.

Activism and political career

Kenyatta has been engaged in community affairs and politics since he was eleven years old, serving as the junior block captain with the Philadelphia Streets Program after winning an essay contest.[12] He has worked as a political consultant on multiple local races, most notably as the campaign manager for lawyer and activist Sherrie Cohen,[13] the daughter of longtime city councilman David Cohen, in her 2015 bid for the Philadelphia City Council.

In 2016, he was elected as a representative to Democratic National Convention (DNC), earning the second-highest votes in the Commonwealth.[14] At a rally in North Philadelphia, his introductory speech for Presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton was turned into an online campaign advertisement viewed nearly half a million times.[15]

2018 Pennsylvania State Legislature Campaign

On December 14, 2017, Kenyatta announced his campaign for the 181st district of Pennsylvania's State Legislature[16] to replace the long-serving incumbent Curtis Thomas who, in April 2018, endorsed Kenyatta as his successor.[17] Kenyatta became the first openly LGBTQ person of color to be nominated by a major political party for a state office in Pennsylvania history, despite anti-gay sentiment by opponents.[18][19][20]

After winning a five-way primary in May’s election with 42.14% of the Democratic votes,[21] [22] Kenyatta faced Republican opponent Milton Street in the November general election.[23] On November 6, 2018, Kenyatta won the General Election in what media called "a landslide" with 95.29% of the vote, making him one of the youngest elected State Representatives in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the first openly gay person of color elected to either chamber of the General Assembly in Pennsylvania history.[24][25][26]

Professional Life

Kenyatta has worked in the for-profit sector as a coordinator at the Graduate Medical Education Department at Hahnemann University Hospital and as the diversity and inclusion engagement coordinator for The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. At the Chamber, he was recognized by the Philadelphia Business Journal's as an "outstanding voice for the LGBT community."[27] He is also a certified anti-bias trainer with the Anti-Defamation League.

He has also served as a board member for Smith Memorial Playground in North Philadelphia.[2]

Recognition

In 2017, he was named as one of Philadelphia Magazine's 38 "people we love" as a "neighborhood champ."[28] Kenyatta has appeared as a political commentator in numerous media outlets, from NPR to Fox News to Al Jazeera. [29][30][31]

Awards

Kenyatta has been a recipient of numerous awards by local and national nonprofit organizations, such as:

References
  1. Persinger, Ryanne (2016-05-23). "Local men receive President's Volunteer Service Award". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  2. Orso, Anna (2016-03-04). "Why Malcolm Kenyatta is pushing to improve his North Philly home". Billy Penn. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  3. Nagle, Aubrey (2015-11-15). "Fearless Leader: Malcolm Kenyatta". Philly Voice. WWB Holdings, LLC. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  4. Jones, Ayana (2017-07-07). "Kelly Kenyatta, 57, foster mother and community anchor". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  5. Marriott, Michel (1992-01-06). "Muhammad Kenyatta, 47, Dies; Professor and Civil Rights Leader". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  6. Bleier, Will (2018-05-17). "Temple alumnus Malcolm Kenyatta wins state House primary election". The Temple News. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  7. Simmons, Shanel (2012-02-21). "'STEPS' taken to spread suicide awareness". The Temple News.
  8. Brust, Amelia (2012-02-01). "Days before Corbett's budget address, students hold rally for higher education funding". The Temple News.
  9. Zankey, Maria (2009-04-07). "The 15 best student artists: Malcolm Kenyatta". The Temple News. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  10. "Temple Smash: Malcolm Kenyatta". Temple TV (Video). 2011-02-28.
  11. Cobbs, Jasmine (2016-05-16). "Poetry as Performance: Temple's Babel Poetry Collective". Temple College of Liberal Arts.
  12. "Torches are Passed and Precedents Set in Pennsylvania's Midterm Election Sweep - The Philadelphia Sunday Sun". The Philadelphia Sunday Sun. 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  13. Owens, Ernest (2016-02-05). "Q&A: Malcolm Kenyatta on Being Openly LGBTQ in Local Politics". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  14. Menon, Aishwarya (2016-05-25). "SMC Alumus Malcolm Kenyatta to Represent the 2nd District in the Democratic National Convention". Temple University News - Klein College of Communications. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  15. Kacala, Alexander (2016-11-02). "Meet the Out Delegate From Hillary Clinton's Campaign Ad". Pride. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  16. Rodriguez, Jeremy (2017-12-20). "Malcolm Kenyatta announces campaign for state rep". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  17. Bowen, Lindsay (2018-04-10). "Curtis Thomas announces retirement, endorses Malcolm Kenyatta". The Temple News. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  18. "Meet Malcolm Kenyatta, Who Just Made Political History In Pennsylvania". News One. 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  19. Owens, Ernest (2018-05-15). "Malcolm Kenyatta Makes History With State House Primary Victory". www.phillymag.com. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  20. Kopp, John (2018-05-15). "Report: Philly state House candidate subject of anti-gay posters". Philly Voice. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  21. "Pennsylvania Primary Election Results". The New York Times. 2018-05-17.
  22. "Malcolm Kenyatta". Ballotpedia. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  23. "Reporting Center: 2018 General Primary". Pennsylvania Department of State | Pennsylvania Elections. Pennsylvania Department of State. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  24. "Pennsylvania Elections - County Results". www.electionreturns.pa.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  25. "Pa. Elects First Openly Gay Person of Color to Statehouse". NBC 10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  26. Fraser, Adriana. "Kenyatta wins in landslide". PGN | The Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  27. "The Business of Pride: Outstanding voices of the LGBT community". The Philadelphia Business Journal. 2017-11-20.
  28. "Best of Philly 2017: 38 Philadelphians We Love". Philadelphia Magazine. Metro Corp. 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  29. Martin, Michel (2016-07-23). "Barbershop: Democrats Talk Core Values In Philadelphia - All Things Considered". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  30. Orso, Anna; Owens, Cassie; Dent, Mark (2017-01-20). "Incoming President Donald Trump and 19 Philadelphia faces of the resistance". Billy Penn. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  31. Oke, Femi (2017-03-02). "Divided Democrats - How can the political party make a comeback?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  32. "Friends of the Coalition honor their peers - The Philadelphia Sunday Sun". The Philadelphia Sunday Sun. 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  33. Hoskins, Brian. "The Lucien E. Blackwell Guiding Light Award | Mission Moments | ACHIEVEability". www.achieveability.org. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
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