Kamau Afrika was set to change his marital status, going from a 30-year widower to being wed to the second love of his life.

“Actually, I was supposed to have done it in November,” the 68-year-old said, “but I had to delay it. I was going to take a good little vacation for about two months, maybe three.”

The delay wasn’t because he had cold feet about again getting married. Instead, it was because he has a warm place in his heart for his city and wanted to again throw his hat in the ring to run for mayor of Birmingham.

“It is absolutely a labor of love for me to do this,” the candidate said. “I enjoyed my retirement, spending time with my grandchildren, going to the gym every day (and) working out, working out in my mini-farm (his garden).

“I’m doing this because I just see some choices that are made in terms of overbearing corporate welfare,” Afrika continued. “I see policemen leaving this city in record numbers. We’ve got 300 police officers left. There’s got to be change and if it hasn’t been done in seven years … . I just can’t sit down and stay quiet anymore.”

The Smithfield resident – residing on historic Dynamite Hill – said he gave two-term incumbent Mayor Randall Woodfin a pass in his first term in office.

“He was a young millennial who I helped,” Afrika said. “I hoped he would be a young leader who would help all the communities, but he didn’t keep his word on that. He said he would take care of all 99 neighborhoods before he did anything. Then he gave the BJCC (Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex) $90 million for a stadium (Protective) that was not domed and was under seating capacity.”

Afrika, a long-time community activist, said Birmingham should have gotten a domed stadium with at least as many seats as Legion Field for the $90 million that was paid.

“The BJCC doesn’t give any tax revenue to the city of Birmingham,” he said. “They created a city within the city” with the Uptown District, Protective Stadium and the Coca-Cola Amphitheater that’s set to open soon.

“I’m looking at deteriorating conditions all over the west, southwest and north parts of town,” the 68-year-old said. “I’m looking at areas like the northwest. They don’t have a grocery store. It’s a food desert. You’ve got a middle-class community that has no decent grocery store and they have to go to Trussville to spend their money.”

Afrika is among four announced candidates in the mayor’s race. Woodfin is running for reelection against Afrika, state Rep. Juandalynn Givan and Jerimy Littlepage. The election is Aug. 26.

Multiple Political Races

Born Marlon Walker, the candidate adopted his chosen name in 1985. It means “quiet warrior” in Kikuyu, the language of the Kinutu tribe of modern Kenya. He has made multiple bids for elected office.

Afrika ran unsuccessful campaigns for the Birmingham City Council in District 5 in 1989 and 1997. He was a 2006 Democratic candidate in a special election to fill Alabama House of Representatives District 54.

In 2008, Afrika put his name on the ballot for the special election to fill Larry Langford’s unexpired term on the Jefferson County Commission.

He was one of 14 candidates to qualify for a special election to fill the Jefferson County Commission District 1 seat left vacant when William Bell was sworn in as Birmingham’s mayor in 2010 . A year later, he ran against Bell in the 2011 Birmingham mayoral election, finishing third with less than 4% of the vote. Afterword he said that he would no longer run for public office.

Despite that pledge, Afrika did challenge Bell again in the 2013 Birmingham municipal election.

Running Again

The candidate said he’s gone through fires in life that have molded him into someone who is uniquely qualified for the task of leading the city. “I believe that I’ve got a special gift at listening to people, not being overbearing,” he said. “I would be a good person to delegate responsibility rather than trying to insist on doing everything myself.”

Afrika said Woodfin is the only mayor who has picked the staff of his police department.

“All other mayors let their chief pick his own staff,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s the only mayor that has never gone to an MLK Breakfast nor supported the Foot Soldiers, and they’re very angry about that.”

Afrika was born to Jimmie and Ivory Dawson Walker Sr. in Smithfield. He credits his parents for instilling him with a fighting spirit. His father fought discriminatory pay practices at ACIPCO; his mother defied Jim Crow laws and was active in pushing for street improvements in their community.

Afrika attended A.H. Parker High School, Selma Lutheran Academy, then graduated from Maryland’s High Point High School in 1972. He earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Birmingham-Southern College in 1985 and attended law school at Miles College in 1991 and later enrolled as a master’s degree candidate at Samford University.

Afrika can often be seen with a dollar bill pinned to his chest. “I’m just showing how generational wealth was consistently taken away from Black people,” he said. “It’s socially engineered us into poverty.”

A real estate investor, Afrika said among his mayoral priorities he wants to:

• Enhance public safety.
• Encourage youth athletic excellence by constructing two state-of-the-art athletic complexes, in southwest and west Birmingham.
• Provide transparent city contracts that ensure fairness and honesty, especially for local Black-owned businesses.
• Revitalize agriculture & STEM education.
• Grow small and Black-owned businesses.
• Improve infrastructure and sanitation.
• Establish comprehensive city recycling programs and affordable healthy food initiatives.

For more information, visit his campaign website.