The Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP) is an effort led by the City of Philadelphia that works to ensure that Indego bike share is accessible to all Philadelphians. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is a non­profit advocacy and education organization working as part of the Better Bike Share Partnership to support bike share and biking education.

The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by the JPB Foundation.

Advocating for the community while organizing, and taking community rides is part of self-care and living to ensure a healthier lifestyle. So believes North Philadelphia advocate and Better Bike Share ambassador Malcolm Kenyatta. We recently sat down with Kenyatta what made him drift for a better healthier lifestyle while his life routine consist of advocating for his community.

Malcolm Kenyatta is a “fearless leader and North Philly’s biggest fan,” according to PhillyVoice. The driven and aspiring advocate also works as the member engagement coordinator at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and forms part in the board of directors of the Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club.

Malcolm is striving to connect communities to healthy living and inspire them to get involved.

“I come from a good stock of people who have been involved in the community. I always was interested in who makes the decision of thing that were happening in my neighborhood,” said Kenyatta. “We often fight for changes and talk about things that affect the community, but no one talks about the difficulty of healthy living that is a struggle as well.  We often talk about how to live a life but not how to live a healthy lifestyle.”

Kenyatta started this year as a Better Bike Share Ambassador after a surprising  turn in his health made him change his lifestyle. “Becoming an Indego ambassador was an easy way to initially start incorporating daily physical activity that was fun and not boring” said Kenyatta. “Last October, I went to the doctor and found a couple of things: I found out I had a tumor on my head my doctor sat me down with a grim tone and told me I was 252 lbs, pre-diabetic, pre-hypertension, and that my cholesterol was high,” says Kenyatta. “It scared me”

“…it shook my world. It was my WAKE UP call. I changed EVERYTHING. I’ve changed the way I ate, got active as an @rideindego Bike ambassador…”-Malcolm Kenyatta

“I was not eating right, I wasn’t physically active or healthy it scared me, so I made the decision to slowly change my lifestyle. I ride Indego to the gym and that alone is a warm up, I try to bike and use Indego wherever I go, because that is already a form of exercise. I’ve lost about 50 pounds and literally I’m at the healthiest moment of my life. I got my surgery they told me it wasn’t cancerous so they successfully got the tumor removed.. and at this moment I’m no longer in danger.”

After a successful surgery and becoming more healthy, Bike Share was a way for Kenyatta to get more involved with the community, and a way to reach out to them was through social media.

“It was a very difficult decision for me about whether or not share the story about my tumor,” he says. “I ultimately made the decision to talk about it to my community.”

Kenyatta states that health issues should be a topic when talking about struggles within the community. “We don’t often talk about how to live a life and how to live a healthy lifestyle. Although I want the community to know that is a possibility and is a journey.”

Kenyatta believes sharing his story and leading community rides will make an impact on others to start a healthier lifestyle. “It’s a helpful and beneficial experience. I’m moved by the people who called and messaged me on Facebook, and people who comment that they can relate to my story,” he adds. “I just want to make sure that people know self-care is very important and that the healthiest lifestyle is all about moderation and balance.”

We at BBSP are thankful to have Malcolm Kenyatta as part of our ambassador team as he continues to advocate for his community and believe his experience can inspire and strive people to use Indego bike share as a source to ensure a healthy lifestyle.