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 State Representative for the 181st District in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Malcolm Kenyatta
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 181st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2019
Preceded by	Curtis Thomas
Personal details
Born	July 30, 1990 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Dr. Matthew Miller (engaged)
Education	Temple University (BA)

Early life

Kenyatta was born to the late Kelly Kenyatta and the late Malcolm J. Kenyatta, at Temple University Hospital in North Central Philadelphia. He has three adopted siblings.

Kenyatta is the grandson of the late civil rights activist Muhammad I. Kenyatta.[4]

Education

Kenyatta is an alumnus of Temple University,[5] where he earned a B.A. in Strategic Communication, he also studied Public Communication at Drexel University.

He was active in a variety of political and social causes in college,[6] notably leading student protests against proposed education budget cuts by Governor Tom Corbett.[7]

In college he was an avid poet and performer.[8][9] In 2008, with the help of theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which has twice won the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.[10]

Kenyatta completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett Leadership Fellow in 2019.

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.[11]

He was a community activist, specifically around issues of poverty, which he has called, “the moral and economic issue of our generation.” He worked as a political consultant on multiple state and local races, most notably as the campaign manager for lawyer and activist Sherrie Cohen,[12] the daughter of longtime city councilman David Cohen, in her 2015 bid for the Philadelphia City Council.

In 2016 and 2020, he was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention (DNC).[13]

Kenyatta was selected as one of seventeen speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[14] This made him, Sam Park, and Robert Garcia the first openly gay speakers in a keynote slot at a Democratic National Convention.[15]

Kenyatta was one of 20 electors selected by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to vote in the Electoral College for Joe Biden for president and Kamala Harris for vice-president following the 2020 United States presidential election.

2018 State Representative campaign

In December 2017, Kenyatta announced his campaign for State Representative [16] to replace the long-serving incumbent Curtis Thomas.[17]

He won a five-way primary in May’s election with 42.14% of the Democratic votes, despite homophobic attacks by opponents.[18][19][20][21]

Kenyatta faced Republican opponent Milton Street in the November general election.[22] 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 LGBTQ person of color elected to either chamber of the General Assembly in Pennsylvania history.[23][24][25]

Recognition

In 2017, Kenyatta was named as one of Philadelphia Magazine's 38 "people we love" as a "neighborhood champ."[26]

Kenyatta was the subject of an award-winning documentary Going Forward,[27] which followed his 2018 victory.

The Philadephia Tribune called Kenyatta one of Philadelphia's Most Influential African Americans.

In 2020, Kenyatta was named an OUT 100 Honoree by OUT Magazine, their annual list of the most "impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people". In the same year, he was awarded the Sen. Tammy Baldwin Award.

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. Marriott, Michel (1992-01-06). "Muhammad Kenyatta, 47, Dies; Professor and Civil Rights Leader". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
5. Bleier, Will (2018-05-17). "Temple alumnus Malcolm Kenyatta wins state House primary election". The Temple News. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
6. Simmons, Shanel (2012-02-21). "'STEPS' taken to spread suicide awareness". The Temple News.
7. Brust, Amelia (2012-02-01). "Days before Corbett's budget address, students hold rally for higher education funding". The Temple News.
8. Zankey, Maria (2009-04-07). "The 15 best student artists: Malcolm Kenyatta". The Temple News. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
9. "Temple Smash: Malcolm Kenyatta". Temple TV (Video). 2011-02-28.
10. Cobbs, Jasmine (2016-05-16). "Poetry as Performance: Temple's Babel Poetry Collective". Temple College of Liberal Arts.
11. "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.
12. Owens, Ernest (2016-02-05). "Q&A: Malcolm Kenyatta on Being Openly LGBTQ in Local Politics". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
13. 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.
14. "Democrats Unveil A New Kind of Convention Keynote". 2020 Democratic National Convention. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
15. "Three Gay 'Rising Stars' Join DNC Keynote — One With His Fiancé". www.advocate.com. August 18, 2020.
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. "Malcolm Kenyatta". Ballotpedia. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
22. "Reporting Center: 2018 General Primary". Pennsylvania Department of State | Pennsylvania Elections. Pennsylvania Department of State. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
23. "Pennsylvania Elections - County Results". www.electionreturns.pa.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
24. "Pa. Elects First Openly Gay Person of Color to Statehouse". NBC 10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
25. Fraser, Adriana. "Kenyatta wins in landslide". PGN | The Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
26. "Best of Philly 2017: 38 Philadelphians We Love". Philadelphia Magazine. Metro Corp. 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
27. "Short doc on N. Philly state Rep. Kenyatta's historic win has East Coast premiere".