Charles Kenyatta (1921-2005)

September 08, 2018 
/ Contributed By: Sophia Gillmer

CHarles Kenyatta Speaking at 125th Street Harlem

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Charles Sumner Kenyatta, also known as Charles 37X and Charles Morris, organized the Harlemย Mau Mauย Society and worked asย Malcolm Xโ€™s bodyguard. Kenyatta was born February 20, 1921, to Ruth Davis and Charles Morris in Boston, Massachusetts. As a teen, he trained to be a dental technician, but wanted to be a part of show business and joined the Brown Skinned Models show at Seventh Avenue Nightclub in New York City, New York.

In 1942, Morris joined theย U.S. Armyย and was posted at Camp Shelby inย Mississippi, but theย segregatedย South was difficult. In September 1944, he wasย convictedย by a court martial on charges of organizing a mutiny and served six years of hard labor. In 1946, he was discharged from the Army after serving half of his sentence.

Morris met Malcolm X as Charles Morris in Detroit,ย Michiganย where Malcolm X was an assistant minister at theย Nation ofย Islam. Morris followed Malcolm X to Mosque No. 7 in New York City and joined in the early 1960s where he was renamed Charles 37X. From 1962 to 1964, he became well known around the Mosque and one of Malcolm Xโ€™s closest friends and confidants. He was the bodyguard for Malcolm Xโ€™s family while he was away and the bodyguard at the time of Malcolmโ€™s assassination.ย Manning Marable, in his 2011 biography of Malcolm X, claims that Kenyatta had an affair with Malcolmโ€™s wife,ย Betty Shabazz.

After Malcolm Xโ€™s assassination in 1965, Kenyatta formed and led the paramilitary group called the Mau Mau Society of Harlem, New York. The Mau Mau society was based on the Mau Mau Society ofย Kenyaย that fought for that nationโ€™s independence.ย  Charles 37X took the name Kenyatta after that countryโ€™s Mau Mau leader and first President,ย Jomo Kenyatta.

The Mau Mau Society of Harlem focused mainly on ending crime and rampant drug use in the streets of Harlem. The Society called their efforts part of their desire to protect to the community of Harlem and raise the social and political awareness of its citizens. He worked specifically with major New York City politicians including Mayor John V. Lindsay in the late 1960s to address slum housing issues in Harlem and other New York black communities.

Kenyattaโ€™s anti-crime and anti-drug efforts were not appreciated by all in Harlem.ย  People involved in drug dealing were upset by the work of Kenyatta and the Mau Mau Society.ย  As a consequence, he was the subject of several assassination attempts. One attempt on June 7, 1969 placed him in Fordham Hospital.

After Malcolmโ€™s death Kenyatta converted back to Christianity and eventually became aย ministerย at the White Rockย Baptist Church in Harlem. In 2002, at the age of 82, Kenyatta marriedย South Koreanย immigrant Sung Bok Lee, a controversial move that was resented by his family.

Charles Sumner Kenyatta died on May 10, 2005 at the age of 85 from an illness. In his failing health, his daughters moved him away from his wife to Philadelphia,ย Pennsylvania. He was survived by his four daughters named Evelyn, Ester, Joyce, and Hellen Morris.

About the Author

Author Profile

Sophia Gillmer is an undergraduate student at the University of Washington majoring in History and minoring in Diversity. As a bi-racial black woman, she has found herself to be passionate about social justice and listening to the voices of marginalized communities. Growing up in different parts of the country, she has met people from different cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities which has made her fascinated in the way history has influenced the different experiences of people in the United States. After graduation, she plans to attend law school and pursue civil rights law in hopes of using her voice to help speak for the different people in the United States that do not have one.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Gillmer, S. (2018, September 08). Charles Kenyatta (1921-2005). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/kenyatta-charles-1921-2005/

Source of the Author's Information:

Herb Boyd, โ€œRev. Kenyatta, aide to Malcolm X, passesโ€ย New York Amsterdam News, May 26, 2005),ย https://search-proquest-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/docview/390405088?accountid=14784&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimoย (login required); Robert D. McFadden, โ€œAn Aide to Malcolm X is Shot in Bronx,โ€ย New York Times, June 8, 1969),ย https://search-proquest-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/docview/118450403?rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimoย (login required); Marable, Manning,ย Malcolm X, A Life of Reinvention, (New York: Viking Press, 2011), Dr. John K. Mwamba, โ€œOhioโ€ย Unification Newsย 21:4, (April 2002),ย http://www.tongil.org/ucbooks/uNews/0204.pdf; โ€œCharles Sumner Kenyattaโ€,ย https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60901&h=47802400&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=YCt97&_phstart=successSourceย (login required); David Osborne, โ€œThe Vengeance of Malcolm X,โ€ย The Independent, January 22, 1995,ย https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/the-vengeance-of-malcolm-x-1569141.html.

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