This past Saturday in Long Beach, California, 8 Democrats hoping to win the party’s nomination to face Trump in the 2020 election appeared before an audience of California delegates and Democratic volunteers — a group heavy on activists and far more politically engaged than the average voter.
Tom Steyer, the billionaire founder of NextGen America, a nonprofit group that combats climate change, promotes social justice and increases participation in democracy through voter registration and grassroots organizing showed up at the convention wearing a “Kenyatta belt” which is made from different colourful Maasai beads carefully sewn on a leather strap. The belt was given prominence by Kenya’s founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta as it was his favorite accessory and has since been dubbed the “Kenyatta belt.”
In August this year, Tom responded to a question on twitter about his belt:
Thanks for noticing my favorite belt! I bought it on a trip to Kenya from female artisans. I wear it as a reminder not to be so formal, and also as a symbol that the world is a better place when we educate women and girls. https://t.co/PoqRorGUPj
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) August 20, 2019
On Saturday, African Warrior Magazine took the following photos of Tom donning the Kenyatta belt. He also reiterated to AW Magazine the symbolic importance of the belt:
“I am a warrior for participatory democracy. I bought this belt in Nairobi, it is made by the Maasai tribe and I am inspired by their courage.”
