MALCOLM KENYATTA

By Harrison Cann Malcolm Kenyatta working is ready to be the people’s candid ate

The state rep running for U.S. Senate wants voters to know he has experienced struggle and is poised to fix a broken system.

Kenyatta hopes to replace Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.

candid ate

The state rep running for U.S. Senate wants voters to know he has experienced struggle and is poised to fix a broken system. he has experienced struggle and is poised to fix a broken system.

BOUNCING AROUND North Philadelphia as a child, Malcolm Kenyatta quickly realized if he wanted to see change, he had to take action into his own hands.

“Nobody is coming to save us,” Kenyatta told City & State. The state representative, elected as the first openly gay Black state legislator in 2018, wants to ensure people don’t face the same hardships he and his family did.

As a young man living on Woodstock Street, he complained to his mother about their block and the trash in the neighborhood. Her response to him was: “Boy, if you care so much, why don’t you go do something about it?” And he did. Kenyatta went on to become a junior block captain at age 11 and didn’t stop there, going from community activist to state representative.

Now, a 30-year-old candidate for the 2022 race for U.S. Senate, Kenyatta is bringing that same motivation to the campaign trail. The seat he’s going after, currently held by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, is going to be one of the most competitive races in the coming year. Kenyatta is already one of several Democrats who plan to run, including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh. The self-described “antithesis” to Toomey, Kenyatta is trying to bring real-world experience to the race that he says others have lacked.

“I’m kind of sick of waiting around for career politicians – who will tell you how much experience they have, how great they are, and how much they care about the needs of working people – to actually do something,” Kenyatta said. “I watched my mom ration her insulin. I watched my dad do the same thing with his epilepsy medicine, and they both died way too young. I moved four or five different times as a kid, because we couldn’t make the bills. I know what it’s like to not have the gas or electricity on, and to have the tap water cut off. I know what those things mean.”

Kenyatta says for the Democratic Party to be the working people’s party, it can’t “just have a list of talking points,” but must back up campaign promises with effective policy. And at a time when the country is very divided, he sees this as an inflection point for many reasons. Whether the focus is on climate change, criminal justice reform, income inequality, and even the democratic process itself, Kenyatta says now is the time to act. “I think this is one of those moments where either Pennsylvania is going to go in a new direction and have what I call a new day, or we’re going to be crushed under the weight of these compounding broken systems,” he said.

The compounding issues he mentioned were at the center of his run for the state House in 2018, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve only been exacerbated. “You pick an issue, and COVID has exposed in it what was already broken,” he said, adding that the disparities exposed during the pandemic revealed how the color of your skin and where you live makes a big difference in your health and economic outcomes. Many people that were considered “essential workers,” he said, were the first to be let go or see a pay cut. He wants to be more than just the working people’s candidate, but the candidate that knows exactly what working people are going through.

“Nobody else in this race was walking over broken pieces of our government’s failures,” Kenyatta said. “This is not about symbolism for symbolism’s sake. It’s about us having a party that holistically understands the concerns

“I’m kind of sick of waiting around for career politicians – who will tell you how much experience they have, how great they are – to actually do something.”

– Malcolm Kenyatta

of Pennsylvania.”

During his time in Harrisburg, Kenyatta has made a name for himself as someone who’s not afraid to speak his mind. He has been booed, and even received some national headlines for remarks he gave in opposition to legislation going through the Republican-led legislature. GOP attempts to cut cash assistance, reform election laws and lift COVID-19 restrictions have been met with criticism across the aisle, and Kenyatta is often the loudest in the room.

“I am somebody who will unequivocally … bite back at some of the worst things that the Republican majority is trying to do. That’s often the role that you play in the minority. You’re being a goalie,” he said.

FOR KENYATTA, or any Democrat for that matter, to stand out in this race, they’ll have to be more offensive than defensive. Toomey’s a two-term Republican representing a Pennsylvania that’s very different in the north and west than it is in the southeast. Kenyatta may be well known in his district and around the Philadelphia region, but he has work to do to build the “broad coalition” he’s striving for.

“I reject this notion that because I’m young and I’m Black that I can’t be competitive in every single part of the state. And as I’ve gone around campaigning across the state, it’s been crystal clear to me that that is a trope that is not really grounded in any reality,” Kenyatta said.

The reality in Pennsylvania is that a Black candidate has won a statewide election just once. Tim DeFoor, a Republican, became the first Black man to do so during the 2020 auditor general election.

Kenyatta has picked up key endorsements from organizations including the Working Families Party and the American Federation of Teachers, as well as one of Fetterman’s predecessors, Braddock Mayor Chardaé Jones.

In a crowded race that’s only going to get more congested, it’s going to be an uphill battle for every candidate. As he looks to become the first openly gay Black man in the U.S. Senate, Kenyatta doesn’t want his identity to be the focus of his campaign.

“I don’t think people care that much what I look like or how I love. What they want to know is whether or not I’m going to fight for them,” he said. “Whether or not I’m going to fight to cancel student loan debt and make college more affordable; whether or not I’m going to fight to make sure every single person has health care; and whether or not we’re going to address the existential crisis of our time: the climate crisis.”

With just over a year until the 2022 primary, there’s a lot of time left for more candidates to enter the race. As the race gets more crowded, control of the Senate could hinge on the results in Pennsylvania. ■

June 2021 Kenyatta is sponsoring legislation to protect the rights of LGBTQ people.

“Nobody else in this race was walking over broken pieces of our government’s failures.”

– Malcolm Kenyatta

5 measures

LGBTQ advocates want to see advance in Pennsylvania

BY JUSTIN SWEITZER

AS PRIDE MONTH BEGINS, City & State PA is shining a spotlight on issues affecting LGBTQ people across Pennsylvania.

For years, LGBTQ advocates and allies have been fighting for enhanced protections in state law in order to prevent discrimination and improve quality of life. Below, City & State PA looks at some of the major legislative changes being sought by members of the LGBTQ community and where they currently stand in the legislative process.

1THE PENNSYLVANIA FAIRNESS ACT For years, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers has been advoin the House and a companion Senate bill, SB 313, is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate Labor and Industry cating for the proposed “Pennsylvania Fairness Act,” a proposal that would codify protections for LGBTQ individuals in the state’s Human Relations Act. The legislation would prevent people from being denied employment, housing and other accommodations based on a person’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The legislation has been sponsored by both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature, including Sen. Pat Browne and Reps. Dan Frankel, Malcolm Kenyatta, Brian Sims and Jessica Benham. The bill currently has yet to be introduced Committee.

2PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN THE PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTION Pennsylvania lawmakers recently amended the state constitution to prohibit discrimination based on race or ethnicity, but the constitutional change did not establish protections for LGBTQ people. Kenyatta and Sims, who are both gay, are spearheading an effort to build upon the most recent constitutional amendment and prohibit the denial or abridgment of rights based on a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The proposal would also bar discrimination based on color, familial status, religious creed and national origin, among other changes. The legislation has yet to be introduced.

3BANNING CONVERSION THERAPY FOR MINORS Also on the agenda for LGBTQ advocates is legislation to ban conversion therapy for minors. The legislation – sponsored by Sims and Benham – would specifically prevent mental health professionals from seeking to change a minor’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The bill, HB 729, is sponsored by Sims and Benham and is currently awaiting a vote in the House Health Committee.

4EXPANDING HATE CRIME LAWS TO INCLUDE OFFENSES MADE TOWARD LGBTQ PEOPLE Another goal of LGBTQ advocates is to expand the state’s hate crime laws to encompass offenses made toward LGBTQ individuals, as well as crimes related to a person’s ancestry or mental or physical disability. Frankel, Sens. Tim Kearney, Anthony H. Williams and Lindsey Williams are sponsoring the legislation. Frankel’s bill would also increase the fines for damages for those who commit hate crimes. The Senate legislation, SB 63, awaits a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, while the House package has yet to be introduced.

5COLLECTING DATA ON LGBTQ PEOPLE Kenyatta and Benham argue that to properly address issues faced by LGBTQ people, the state needs to collect more information on the experiences of its LGBTQ citizens. To do so, the lawmakers are proposing legislation that would require all state forms which ask for demographic information to include an optional question that allows respondents to indicate if they are LGBTQ. The bill’s two sponsors say it would help the state develop a more complete picture of its LGBTQ community, and in turn, allow lawmakers to craft more inclusive initiatives. The legislation, House Bill 1384, awaits a vote in the House State Government Committee.