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 Nightat the Apollo Theatre in New York City in an untelevised show. 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.
Education
Kenyatta is an alumnus of Temple University, 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, most notably leading student protests against Republican Governor Tom Corbett's budget cuts. 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. In his sophomore year, 2008, with the help of theater professor , he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which won the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational in 2016. In 2019, Kenyatta completed program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a 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. He has worked as a political consultant on multiple local races, most notably as the campaign manager for lawyer and activist Sherrie Cohen, 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, earning the second-highest votes in the Commonwealth. 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.
On December 14, 2017, Kenyatta announced his campaign for the 181st district of Pennsylvania's State Legislature to replace the long-serving incumbent Curtis Thomas who, in April 2018, endorsed Kenyatta as his successor. Kenyatta became the first openly LGBTQperson of color to be nominated by a major political party for a state office in Pennsylvania history, despite anti-gay sentiment by opponents. After winning a five-way primary in May’s election with 42.14% of the Democratic votes, Kenyatta faced Republican opponent Milton Street in the November general election. 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.
In 2017, he was named as one of Philadelphia Magazine's 38 "people we love" as a "neighborhood champ." Kenyatta has appeared as a political commentator in numerous media outlets, from NPR to Fox News to Al Jazeera.
Awards
Kenyatta has been a recipient of numerous awards by local and national nonprofit organizations, such as:
President's Volunteer Service Award
Lax Award
BMe Leader Award
Friends of the Urban Affairs Coalition Leadership Award
