“The best part of this is I get to eat as many carbs as possible,” jokes Malcolm Kenyattawho has lost 100lbs over the past two years. “I had a bagel already, I’m eating snacks, I’m having a good time.”
The Democratic state representative was speaking by phone from Broomall, Pennsylvania, on Friday, around 12 miles into a one-man, 105-mile march from Philadelphia to Harrisburg in protest to drastic cuts to regional public transport services.
Kenyatta had set off at 7am on Friday sporting a Reebok golf shirt, black athletic trousers, Brooks trainers and a green backpack with a selfie stick, external phone charger, glasses and snacks.
The 35-year-old is walking alone for much of the five-day journey but will at times be accompanied by staff who drive along the route for support. He is stopping every couple of hours to change his socks and lubricate his feet to avoid blisters.
He will also rest each night at a “little cheap hotel” somewhere but has not booked in advance. “I’m just going to stop when my body tells me I can’t go any more and I’m sure somebody will leave the light on for me at one of these hotels or whatever along the route.”
He will also stream parts of the walk on Instagram Live and hold four rallies and press conferences, culminating on Tuesday on the steps of the capitol building in Harrisburg.
Kenyatta hopes to bring attention to budget cuts at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (Septa), a public transit agency providing bus, subway, trolley and regional rail service in the Philadelphia area.
He attributes the funding crisis to Republican inaction in the state legislature, highlighting the impact on students, elderly people and workers. Republicans say it is a crisis manufactured by the Democratic party.
Septa has a $213m operating deficit this year and has warned that service cuts that started this week, affecting thousands of children on the first day of school, will send the agency into a “death spiral” if it does not secure more funding from the state government.
“It is a problem that is growing not shrinking,” Kenyatta said. “Part of what has made this so frustrating is that this is not one of those budgetary standoffs that’s driven by a lack of resources. We’ve put forward five bipartisan proposals to fund mass transit.”
But Republicans in the state senate, he added, fled the capitol to play golf, go clay shooting and take trips, leaving the transport funding in limbo. “As working people are struggling, they are literally palling around having cocktails with the wealthiest people in the state.
“That contrast is one that is dramatic, that is pronounced and should piss people off, and what I’m doing right now on this 105-mile long walk comes out of a time honoured American tradition of marching.”
This week marks the 62nd anniversary of the March on Washington, Kenyatta noted. “It’s not lost on me that what I’m doing is symbolic but what is not symbolic is the pain that people are feeling every single day. What’s also not symbolic are the disparate priorities of Democrats and Republicans.”
Kenyatta is also vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee and suggested that, as Donald Trump seeks to expand presidential power, the party grassroots is looking for people willing to take off the gloves.
“There is a debate in the Democratic party and the debate is very simple,” he said, “Some people think that we should roll over and die and some people who think we should fight like hell. Some people think that we should use every single tool at our disposal to fight the authoritarian takeover of our country.
“Chair [Ken] Martin is leading that. He said at our DNC meeting the Democratic party can’t keep bringing a pencil to a knife fight, that we have to organise everywhere, that we have to think outside the box, that we have to find ways to connect these issues to people in a way that resonates with them.”
