Malcolm Kenyatta Explained

Malcolm Kenyatta
State House:Pennsylvania
District:181st
Predecessor:Curtis Thomas
Birth Date:30 July 1990
Birth Place:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Party:Democratic
Spouse:Matthew Miller[1]
Education:Temple University (BA)
Drexel University (MS)
Relatives:Muhammad Kenyatta (grandfather)

Malcolm Kenyatta (born July 30, 1990) is an American politician from the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the Pennsylvania State Representative for the 181st district since 2019.

Early life and education

Kenyatta was born to Kelly Kenyatta and Malcolm J. Kenyatta, at Temple University Hospital in North Central Philadelphia. He has three adopted siblings. Kenyatta is the grandson of the civil rights activist Muhammad I. Kenyatta.[2]

Kenyatta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in strategic communication from Temple University and a Master of Science in public communication from Drexel University.[3] [4] During college, Kenyatta organized student protests against proposed education budget cuts by then-Governor Tom Corbett.[5] [6]

During college, Kenyatta was also an avid poet and performer.[7] [8] In 2008, with the help of theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon,[9] he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which has twice won the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.[10]

Kenyatta completed a Harvard Kennedy School of Government three-week executive education program, Senior Executives in State and Local Government, as a David Bohnett Fellow in 2019.[11]

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.[12]

Kenyatta has worked as 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,[13] the daughter of longtime city councilman David Cohen, in her 2015 bid for the Philadelphia City Council.

Kenyatta backed Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries and has been critical of Bernie Sanders.[14] He does not support an immediate transition to Medicare for All, noting that he would support interim bipartisan measures instead.[15] Kenyatta supports abolishing the United States Senate filibuster.[16]

In 2016 and 2020, he was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.[17] He was selected as one of seventeen speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[18] This made him, Sam Park, and Robert Garcia the first openly-gay speakers in a keynote slot at a Democratic National Convention.[19]

Kenyatta was one of 20 electors selected by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to vote in the Electoral College for Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris in 2020 United States presidential election.[20]

In April 2023, Biden appointed Kenyatta as chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.[21]

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

In December 2017, Kenyatta announced his campaign for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives[22] to replace the long-serving incumbent Curtis Thomas.[23] He won a five-way Democratic party primary election in May 2018 with 42.1% of the vote.[24] The night of the election, unidentified people set up homophobic posters of him and his ex-husband throughout the district.[25]

Kenyatta won the general election in November against Republican opponent Milton Street with 95.3% of the vote.[26] The win made 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 Pennsylvania General Assembly in the state's history.[27]

Despite running in the 2022 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Kenyatta also remained on the primary ballot for re-election to 181st district, for which he ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

2022 United States Senate campaign

See main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. On February 18, 2021, Kenyatta announced his bid for the United States Senate in the 2022 Democratic primary.[28] He lost the Democratic nomination to Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, winning only 10.9% of the vote and also losing his home county.[29]

2024 Auditor General campaign

See main article: 2024 Pennsylvania Auditor General election. On March 8, 2023, Kenyatta announced his candidacy to be Pennsylvania's Auditor General. Kenyatta was the first Democrat to announce a bid to challenge the incumbent Auditor General, Timothy DeFoor.[30] On April 23rd, 2024, he became the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania's Auditor General, which made him the first openly gay man nominated by any major party for any statewide office in Pennsylvania.[31]

Recognition

In 2017, Kenyatta was named as one of Philadelphia Magazine's 38 "people we love" as a "neighborhood champ."[32]

Kenyatta was the subject of an award-winning documentary, Going Forward,[33] [34] which followed his 2018 victory.

The Philadelphia Tribune called Kenyatta one of Philadelphia's most influential African-Americans.[35]

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 Breakthrough Award.

On August 20th, 2024, Kenyatta spoke at the Democratic National Convention.[36]

See also

External links

|-

Notes and References

  1. News: La Gorce . Tammy . For a State Representative, the Ideal Candidate . 6 March 2022 . The New York Times . 6 March 2022.
  2. News: Muhammad Kenyatta, 47, Dies; Professor and Civil Rights Leader. Marriott. Michel. January 6, 1992. The New York Times. September 23, 2018.
  3. Web site: Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta Biography. 2021-04-06. www.pahouse.com. en.
  4. News: Bleier. Will. May 17, 2018. Temple alumnus Malcolm Kenyatta wins state House primary election. The Temple News. September 23, 2018.
  5. News: Days before Corbett's budget address, students hold rally for higher education funding. Brust. Amelia. February 1, 2012. The Temple News.
  6. News: Simmons. Shanel. February 21, 2012. 'STEPS' taken to spread suicide awareness. The Temple News.
  7. News: The 15 best student artists: Malcolm Kenyatta. Zankey. Maria. April 7, 2009. The Temple News. September 23, 2018.
  8. Web site: Temple Smash: Malcolm Kenyatta. February 28, 2011. Temple TV. Video.
  9. Web site: Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon . . February 16, 2021.
  10. News: Poetry as Performance: Temple's Babel Poetry Collective. Cobbs. Jasmine. May 16, 2016. Temple College of Liberal Arts. September 23, 2018. June 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200615023713/https://liberalarts.temple.edu/news/poetry-performance-temple-s-babel-poetry-collective. dead.
  11. Web site: David Bohnett Foundation . February 16, 2021.
  12. News: Torches are Passed and Precedents Set in Pennsylvania's Midterm Election Sweep - The Philadelphia Sunday Sun. November 10, 2018. The Philadelphia Sunday Sun. November 12, 2018. en-US.
  13. News: Q&A: Malcolm Kenyatta on Being Openly LGBTQ in Local Politics. Owens. Ernest. February 5, 2016. Philadelphia Magazine. September 23, 2018.
  14. Web site: Ember. Sydney. March 16, 2020. Bernie Sanders Wants to Fight On. He Has His Reasons.. The New York Times.
  15. Web site: Terruso. Julia. March 2, 2021. Welcome to Pennsylvania's very progressive 2022 Democratic Senate primary. The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  16. Web site: Everett. Burgress. March 23, 2021. Killing the filibuster becomes new 'litmus test' for Democratic candidates. politico.com. May 1, 2021.
  17. News: Menon. Aishwarya. May 25, 2016. SMC Alumus Malcolm Kenyatta to Represent the 2nd District in the Democratic National Convention. Temple University News - Klein College of Communications. September 23, 2018.
  18. Web site: Democrats Unveil A New Kind of Convention Keynote . 2020 Democratic National Convention . August 16, 2020 . August 16, 2020 . August 17, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200817123930/https://www.demconvention.com/press-releases/democrats-unveil-a-new-kind-of-convention-keynote/ . dead .
  19. Web site: Three Gay 'Rising Stars' Join DNC Keynote — One With His Fiancé. August 18, 2020. www.advocate.com.
  20. Web site: Pennsylvania's presidential electors make it official, formally certify vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Julian. Routh. December 14, 2020.
  21. Web site: Kane . Christopher . Malcolm Kenyatta, Marisa Richmond to join presidential advisory commission . Washington Blade . Apr 23, 2023.
  22. News: Malcolm Kenyatta announces campaign for state rep. Rodriguez. Jeremy. December 20, 2017. Philadelphia Gay News. September 23, 2018.
  23. News: Curtis Thomas announces retirement, endorses Malcolm Kenyatta. Bowen. Lindsay. April 10, 2018. The Temple News. November 12, 2018. en-US.
  24. Web site: Malcolm Kenyatta. May 15, 2018. Ballotpedia. September 23, 2018.
  25. Web site: Malcolm Kenyatta Makes History With State House Primary Victory. Owens. Ernest. May 15, 2018. www.phillymag.com. en-US. September 23, 2018.
  26. Web site: Reporting Center: 2018 General Primary. May 15, 2018. Pennsylvania Department of State Pennsylvania Elections. Pennsylvania Department of State. August 18, 2018.
  27. News: Pa. Elects First Openly Gay Person of Color to Statehouse. NBC 10 Philadelphia. November 12, 2018. en.
  28. News: Malcolm Kenyatta announces his candidacy for a Pennsylvania Senate seat.. Trip. Gabriel. The New York Times . February 19, 2021. April 16, 2021.
  29. News: John Fetterman wins Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania after health scare. NBCNews.com. May 17, 2022. May 17, 2022. Kapur. Sahil.
  30. Web site: Terruso . Julia . 2023-03-09 . Malcolm Kenyatta is running for auditor general: 'We need an underdog as the watchdog' . 2023-03-09 . . en.
  31. Web site: Democratic voters select Malcolm Kenyatta in Pa. auditor general primary.
  32. News: Best of Philly 2017: 38 Philadelphians We Love. July 24, 2017. Philadelphia Magazine. September 23, 2018. Metro Corp.
  33. Web site: Tim . Harris . Inside a Historic Win on Election Day 2018 . . December 21, 2018 . February 16, 2021.
  34. Web site: Ximena . Conde . Short doc on N. Philly state Rep. Kenyatta's historic win has East Coast premiere . . March 26, 2019 . February 16, 2021.
  35. Web site: 2020 Philadelphia's Most Influential African Americans . . November 12, 2020 . February 16, 2021.
  36. Web site: Orso . Anna . 20 August 2024 . Malcolm Kenyatta and the Obamas are among tonight’s DNC speakers; RFK Jr. misses chance to testify in Pa. ballot case . https://web.archive.org/web/20240820225329/https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/live/dnc-barack-michelle-obama-doug-emhoff-kamala-harris-donald-trump-updates-20240820.html . 20 August 2024 . 20 August 2024 . The Philadelphia Inquirer.