Malcolm Kenyatta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Malcolm Kenyatta
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Kenyatta in 2022
|
|
| Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee | |
| Assumed office June 14, 2025 Serving with Reyna Walters-Morgan, Artie Blanco, and Jane Kleeb
|
|
| Chair | Ken Martin |
| Preceded by | Various |
| In office February 2, 2025 – June 11, 2025 |
|
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 181st district |
|
| Assumed office January 1, 2019 |
|
| Preceded by | Curtis Thomas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 30, 1990 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Matt Miller |
| Relatives | Muhammad Kenyatta (grandfather) |
| Education | Temple University (BA) Drexel University (MS) |
Malcolm Kenyatta (born July 30, 1990) is an American politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He serves as a state representative for the 181st district in Pennsylvania. In February 2025, he was chosen as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. He was also the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Auditor General in the 2024 election.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Malcolm Kenyatta was born in North Central Philadelphia. His mother is Kelly Kenyatta, and his father is Malcolm J. Kenyatta. He has three adopted brothers and sisters. His grandfather, Muhammad Kenyatta, was a well-known civil rights activist.
Kenyatta went to Temple University and earned a degree in strategic communication. He later received a master's degree in public communication from Drexel University. While in college, he helped organize student protests. These protests were against plans to cut funding for education by the governor at that time.
During his college years, Kenyatta was also very interested in poetry. In 2008, he started a poetry group called Babel. This group won awards and even won the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational twice. In 2019, he also completed a special program for leaders at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Political Career
Kenyatta has been involved in community and political activities since he was eleven years old. He started as a junior block captain in Philadelphia.
He has worked as a community activist, focusing on issues like poverty. He believes that poverty is a very important problem for society and the economy. He also worked as a political helper for different campaigns.
Kenyatta supported Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. He has also spoken about his views on important topics. For example, he supports getting rid of the Senate filibuster. This is a rule in the U.S. Senate that can stop bills from being voted on.
In both 2016 and 2020, he was chosen as a delegate for the Democratic National Convention. This is a big meeting where the Democratic Party chooses its presidential candidate. In 2020, he was one of 17 people chosen to give the main speech at the convention. This made him one of the first openly gay speakers to give a keynote speech at a Democratic National Convention.
In 2020, Kenyatta was also one of the people chosen by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to vote in the United States Electoral College. He voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president and vice president. In April 2023, President Biden appointed Kenyatta to lead a special group. This group advises on how to improve education and economic opportunities for Black Americans.
Serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In December 2017, Kenyatta announced he would run for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He wanted to take the place of the current representative, Curtis Thomas. In May 2018, he won the primary election against four other candidates. After the election, some people put up posters with mean messages about him.
Kenyatta won the main election in November 2018. He ran against Republican Milton Street and won with a large number of votes. This victory made him one of the youngest state representatives in Pennsylvania. He also became the first openly LGBTQ person of color to be elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Even though he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022, Kenyatta also ran for re-election to his state representative seat. He ran without anyone opposing him in both the primary and general elections and won.
Running for U.S. Senate in 2022
On February 18, 2021, Kenyatta announced he would run for the United States Senate in 2022. He wanted to win the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania. However, he lost the nomination to Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.
Running for Auditor General in 2024
On March 8, 2023, Kenyatta announced he was running to become Pennsylvania's Auditor General. This role involves checking how the state government spends money. He was the first Democrat to say he would challenge the current Auditor General, Timothy DeFoor. He won the Democratic primary election against Mark Pinsley.
His victory made him the first openly gay man nominated by a major party for a statewide office in Pennsylvania. As Auditor General, he wanted to create a group to focus on worker safety. He also wanted to restart school audits that had been moved to another department. He was defeated by Timothy DeFoor in the general election.
Democratic National Committee (2025)
On February 1, 2025, Malcolm Kenyatta was chosen as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. He was chosen along with David Hogg, Reyna Walters-Morgan, and Artie Blanco. In June 2025, he and David Hogg were removed from their positions. This was because a new election was going to be held for their seats. David Hogg decided not to run again, so Kenyatta won the election without anyone running against him.
Personal Life
Malcolm Kenyatta lives in Philadelphia with his husband, Matt. Two documentaries have been made about him: "Going Forward" (2018) and "Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn" (2023). Both were directed by Timothy Harris.
Recognition and Awards
- In 2017, Philadelphia magazine named Kenyatta one of their "people we love." They called him a "neighborhood champ."
- The documentary Going Forward, which followed his 2018 election win, won an award.
- The Philadelphia Tribune newspaper called Kenyatta one of Philadelphia's most important African-Americans.
- In 2020, OUT Magazine included Kenyatta in their OUT 100 list. This list honors the most influential LGBTQ+ people.
- In the same year, he received the Sen. Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award.
- On August 20, 2024, Kenyatta spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Images for kids
-
Kenyatta in 2022
See also
- List of African-American United States Senate candidates
