The photo I didn’t take and why this one is a decent proxy
There was this moment, when we were first really getting to know each other last summer. I don’t remember why I was in a car with Tricia, but I was, and I remember it was pretty late at night, and it was one of those warm summer nights that New York is pretty good at.
I don’t remember, either, why we were heading towards their place in Brooklyn, but we were, and just as we pulled up, we saw Kenyatta, and the photo I didn’t take wasn’t taken right then. It would have been a photo through the windshield, and it would be how he looked from the passenger seat of the car.
He was in shorts and a t-shirt, and was illuminated by the streetlights. He had Elle on a leash, and Elle was thinking about whatever Elle thinks about, and it’s not possible that Kenyatta was wearing bunny slippers (not least of all because I don’t think he owns bunny slippers) but it’s kind of how I remember it. And he was wearing his glasses, and he had a popsicle in his mouth, hands free.
I saw him from the car and felt how I often feel when I’m with the man, and felt then for the first time. It was this sense that he was perfectly at home.
This is hard to explain. But you often see people who are in the street and they are deep in thought about some shit, or they’re lost, or they are carrying on some conversation in their head when that conversation was over hours before. I am often one of those people. And whatever that thing is, Kenyatta was the exact opposite of that.
We just happened to catch him in this moment, as if sneaking up on him, and I just remember thinking, what’s amazing is that this guy is right fucking here. And there are all of these amazing things about Kenyatta — e.g., he is generous, caring, sensitive, funny, brilliant — but I think that somehow all of those flow from that source, which is being wholly present in the world, being at home.
I don’t think I would have realized all that right then, if he didn’t have a popsicle in his mouth. He doesn’t have a popsicle in his mouth in this picture, but it’s like he does, and if he were right here, I would find one and give it to him for his birthday.
But that’s just a prop, and the story is the story, and it’s beautiful, and today is a celebration of the story that keeps getting told, and I am reading this tumblr filled with what everyone has written, and those are all the different ways to tell it.
Happy birthday, friend.
kevin
one of my favorite parts of Brooklyn
Kenyatta is one of my favorite parts of Brooklyn; my Brooklyn family. Both loving Tricia (in our different ways), walking Elle, moving cars, sitting on stoops, hanging in the backyard, or on your stoop, eating our favorite cuban food down the block, or sharing commentary on our changing neighborhoods, we have been sharing our lives together in Brooklyn for too many years!
My favorite memory is coming home, looking out my back window on a cool crisp day and seeing Kenyatta and Elle running and playing in the backyard. They seemed to be calling me home to come and play.
I love being so blessed to have Kenyatta in my life because it’s so rare to have someone who you can fully trust and fully confide in, especially in NYC. But Kenyatta has that type of demeanor and personality. Loving, warm, caring, loyal, trustworthy and always cool and calm with everything.
Above all, always being clearheaded, logical and giving great advice. I love sharing keys to our homes and cars, and depending on each other to help the other one when needed.
Kenyatta has been my extended family here in Brooklyn and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. I am grateful you were born K! Thank you for always being there for me and being on each other’s team here in the BK. I really couldn’t do it without you. Love you!!
Emilia Wiles
great coincidence
I don’t remember when Kenyatta and I started having these instant message conversations, but it must have been before I figured out the difference between Selena and Demi, but sometime after I learned how to pronounce, ‘Bieber’.
There’s no one in the world I would rather talk to about Miley’s PDA infront of the Cheesecake Factory and debate whether she had the glamburger or if she played it safe with a salad, no one better to trade trashy Paris Hilton Barbie blogs or funny cat videos with and no one at all who indulged a - slightly - ironic, desperate, 2010 fantasy, of having my very own “boring-coffee-shop-Taylor Swift/Jake Gyllenhaal-relationship”.
One night this Summer, Kenyatta and I were up late online and decided to watch a movie together while on Gchat. After immediately rejecting the M. Night Shyamalan version of Avatar the Last Airbender, we settled on ‘Skyline’, starring Eric Balfour & Donald Faison - serious star power. After 90 of the funniest minutes of my Summer, laughing out loud alone in my apartment with my computer and Kenyatta on the other end, I purchased a ‘Don’t Look Up’ (the tagline of the film) tank top from eBay that I fully intend to wear someday when he least expects it. I hope I have that chat log saved somewhere.
I found an email Kenyatta sent me 18 months before I first met him IRL at a blip.tv party, when I very shyly told him I was a big Know Your Meme fan and asked him if his name was real.
So after I joined Rocketboom, I was searching for emails from my new coworker and found an unread message from March 2008. He’d seen a silly YouTube video I made when I was 17 and I’d missed the email in my inbox. Finding it after later, feeling very much in awe of Kenyatta in the Summer of 2009 in New York, it was somehow more impactful and touching. I thought of it as a great coincidence that we ended up working together.
Love Molly xoxo
still
Even though we’ve barely spent much time together, I consider you a role model.
#happybelatedbirthday
Hugz
Best word to describe Kenyatta, in my experience: warm. Also, soft and huggable. Seriously, from the first time I met the guy, he’s been incredibly warm and open with me, and with everyone I’ve seen him with. He does it while still maintaining an level of professionalism when needed. It kinda blows me away.
Sadly, I don’t have any really good Kenyatta stories yet, but I look forward to having some to tell in the future.
Happy (belated) birthday to you!
Tom Igoe
kenyatta. the best brother ever.
words cannot describe how much love i have for my brother, kenyatta. i have so many fond memories of our childhood - from racing up and down our walkway to riding bikes in the basement to playing with GI Joes…kenyatta was the consummate playmate. i could always count on him for inventing some awesome game to play or to, say, create lounge chairs out of sand at the beach. he could have had his own tv show back then.
as we grew older through high school and college, we gravitated toward our own groups of friends. nevertheless, i always knew that no matter how far away he was physically, he was always in my heart and only a phone call away.
two sentiments that are continuously echoed throughout these tumblr posts are kenyatta’s endless wisdom and generosity. if i ever need advice, kenyatta never just tells me what to do. he asks questions (oh, the questions!) until i come to my own conclusions. and kenyatta’s giving nature is second to none. he would give you the shirt off his back if needed.
amazing, that guy is.
i hope, kenyatta, that you know that you mean the world to me. you are awesome and i wish you the happiest birthday, ever.
love, your sister
smiles
my first memory of kenyatta was his smile. It was so large and warm and cheshire cat after just meeting me, a stranger, that i instantly assumed he was extremely untrustworthy. in retrospect, it turns out that he was extremely untrustworthy; he couldnt be trusted to be anything other than completely trustworthy :)
Kati London
To Kenyatta
It is a rare and magical thing when you discover a true friend. A true friend is the kind of person who instantly “clicks” with you no matter how much time has passed or how much distance between you.
Kenyatta has been a true friend since the moment we met. It seemed like we had been friends since childhood. Over the years we have collaborated together on projects and helped each other struggle through some difficult moments.
Although it might be a long time before we catch up, or long distance and life journeys take us down different paths, I know that I can always look to Kenyatta for creative energy, inspiration, laughter, and wisdom.
Our friendship always picks up instantly as though there was no change at all.
My favorite moments with Kenyatta are quiet and nondescript. Sharing conversation (or plotting the future) over beer or ramen noodles.
Now that I am back in NYC, it’s clear that we need to do this more often. So how about it? Let’s make it a regular thing! (Expect a recurring calendar invite in your inbox!)
Happy birthday!
With love,
Josh
five things i can thank/blame kenyatta for
“Shey Cheese!”
1. Getting me started in web video. The start of Rachel’s and my friendship with Kenyatta was also the start of my work in web video, around January of 2006. We knew each other a little from hanging around Eyebeam, and he asked me to come meet with him and talk about videoblogging over a fateful afternoon of drinks at the Broome Street Bar. I still think about that every time I walk by that place. No Kenyatta, no Next New Networks.
2. Many of my best friends in New York and beyond. Bre, Nora, Baratunde, Jennifer, Kevin, Tricia, Ellie, Zadi, Steve, Amanda and Mario, Micki, Sarah, Kati, Tarikh, Nick, Jamie and Irene, Brady, many more: the list of people I’d probably never have met if it weren’t for Kenyatta is terrifying, and goes on and on.
3. Forcing me and Rachel to stop working and dragging us out more times than I can count. Kenyatta’s the only person we know who can turn “I’m right in your neighborhood, want to get a quick bite?” into us ending up in Brooklyn until the wee hours and usually seeing all of our friends. If you’ve seen Rachel and I out anywhere in the last five years, you most likely have Kenyatta to thank (slash blame).
4. Making me dance the Soulja Boy. But that’s not nearly as bad as…
5. The Real Life Rick Roll. It’s almost passed a million views now, and I still haven’t gotten him back for that. Just wanted to remind him…
Happy birthday, KC!
the pickle
this one of his dad’s favorite moments, and how we first discovered kenyatta’s sense of humor. one day we gave him a piece of pickle to see his reaction. being only about 8 months old and not talking yet he gave us what we expected, a funny face. about 4 hours later, we realized he strangely quiet and wasn’t making any baby cooing/talking noises. we tried to see what was wrong. suddenly, kenyatta burst out laughing so hard! he still had the pickle in his mouth…
