Muhammad Kenyatta

Biography

Muhammad I. Kenyatta (born Donald Brooks Jackson; March 3, 1944 – January 3, 1992), was an American professor, civil rights leader, and international human rights advocate. In the 1960s, he worked for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged the denial of voting rights to African Americans in Mississippi. In 1969 he was elected national vice-president of the Black Economic Development Conference and President of the Greater Philadelphia branch of the organization which was focused on ending poverty in communities of color which they outlined in a revolutionary document referred to as the 'Black Manifesto'. In 1975, Kenyatta had an unsuccessful run for Democratic nomination for mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania against Frank Rizzo. Kenyatta was a fellow in the Harvard Divinity School and Harvard Law School and led a boycott against minority hiring practices at Harvard. He was also active in international human rights education and advocacy through the United Nations and TransAfrica organizations.

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