After nearly a decade on The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA), Kenya Moore remains a captivating figure. The entrepreneur and former beauty queen has openly shared her life on-screen, allowing viewers to witness her journey through its highs and lows.
Kenya Summer Moore was born on January 24, 1971, in Detroit, Michigan, to Patricia Moore and Ronald Grant, who were both teenagers at the time. This already challenging situation was compounded when Kenya's mother abandoned her just three days after birth. Kenya has pain in her heart over the relationship she has and doesn’t have with her parents. Kenya Moore’s parents were both teenagers when they had her in Detroit, Michigan, so it was a difficult situation.
On Real Housewives of Atlanta, we’ve seen Kenya Moore talk to her father Ronald Grant about her mother Patricia Moore, who has been absent from her life.
As if that was not painful enough, Kenya's mother abandoned her when she was just three days old. Not only did she give her child up, but she burdened Kenya in the worst possible way. "Since birth, my mother made the decision at age 16 to pretend she never had me. She has never spoken to me. Even if present in the same room with other people and family, she pretends that I simply don't exist. She pretends I'm invisible," Kenya revealed on her Bravo blog.
In 1993 Patricia claimed, “the door for communication has been and always will remain open”, she has not apologized as Kenya demands. Apparently there were problems before Kenya was born. Patricia declines to discuss the details of the estrangement. “I’m a very private person. It doesn’t matter how dim Kenya portrays me, because I know exactly who I am.” Kenya claims that when she saw her mother as a child at family gatherings, she tried unsuccessfully to make contact. “She would treat me like I was invisible.” Kenya decided when she was 12 to stop trying to communicate with her mother. “I decided never to let her hurt me again,” she explains.
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In turn, Kenya ended up being raised by her paternal grandmother and aunt after her mother abandoned her at birth.
Kenya Moore with her grandmother Doris Grant.
Doris Grant: The Angel in Kenya's Life
However, the reality star's story took a turn for the better when an angel took her in. Doris Grant took in 3-day-old Kenya Summer Moore, per Radar Online. She was crucial in nurturing her granddaughter’s aspirations.
Now the name Doris may seem familiar to those who follow the Real Housewives franchise. That's because Kenya's young daughter is named Brooklyn Doris after the woman who raised her. "She's just my angel. I mean, she was my angel. She's the only mother that I ever knew, and she was an incredible woman," Kenya said as she paid tribute to her grandmother, who died in 2017 (per Ozy).
Doris fed her husband, five kids, and granddaughter by working three jobs. Though she lived for a few years with Patricia’s well-off family, Kenya was raised primarily by Doris, who lived with her husband, Virgil, and their five children in an impoverished neighborhood in west Detroit, Doris, caretaker of an elderly couple, scraped together money to buy a gown for Kenya’s first pageant at 14. “I was bitter.
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Kenya Moore became aware of how her mother felt about her when she was just 4 years old. Her father, Ronald Grant, took her to see Patricia Moore on a surprise visit. Patricia, who must have been around 20 at the time, lost it. "I don't want to know her. I made my decision four years ago. Nothing has changed. Now leave!" Kenya recalled her mother saying, via Radar Online.
At the same age, she also finally had a chance to speak to Patricia on the phone. However, the conversation was brutal. Patricia allegedly let Kenya know, in no uncertain terms, "I am not your mother. It did not get any better, either. As she grew older, Kenya began to spend some time with her mother's family. But Kenya's mother ignored her, per Radar Online. "When I state that she ignored me, I mean that she acted as if I were invisible like I did not exist," Kenya revealed.
As a child, Kenya knew that her mother had rejected her and she was having trouble dealing with the facts. This would come to a head in later years as the poor kid tried to cope with her feelings. "I didn't like the neighborhood, I didn't like any of the people, and I didn't like my school. So I ran away, all the way back to Detroit," she explained. For five years thereafter, Kenya's father refused to speak to her.
Though she lived for a few years with Patricia’s well-off family, Kenya was raised primarily by Doris, who lived with her husband, Virgil, and their five children in an impoverished neighborhood in west Detroit.
The impact of Doris Grant
Doris was crucial in nurturing her granddaughter’s aspirations. “My grandmother Doris was very strict, but she allowed me to follow my dreams,” Kenya reflects, thinking of a particular opportunity that changed the trajectory of her life. “A few of my friends entered a talent pageant called ‘Little Miss Black Star.’ I was 13 or 14 and was excited to do something that was fun.” Because Kenya had been dancing since she was five, “I danced for my talent portion. I placed 1st Runner-Up. It was a very positive and exciting experience and that was just the beginning. I never looked back after that.” The pageant scene throughout her childhood eventually led to Kenya being crowned Miss USA in 1993 when she was just 22.
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The values that stemmed from her grandmother’s “very old school” approach in her formative early years never left Kenya. “She loved little girls to be well-dressed, well-behaved, and well-spoken. She was the perfect role model. She also loved healthy hair,” Kenya fondly remembers. “She always said, ‘hair is your crowning glory’ and that wasn’t lost on me. She took such pride in dressing my aunt Lisa, her only daughter that I grew up with, and me. I believe my passion was born there. Thus, Kenya was extremely passionate about haircare from an early age, and from this passion stemmed Kenya Moore Haircare.
Kenya gave praise to the woman who raised her in her youth in an Instagram post with a series of sweet photos.
Kenya Moore Pens Emotional Tribute to Late Grandmother
Kenya dedicated an emotional Instagram post to her grandmother upon her passing:
"Today I lost the only woman in the world who has ever loved me unconditionally," the Real Housewives of Atlanta star, 46, captioned a slideshow of six photos with Grant. "My grandmother who raised me from 3 days old passed away. Thank you Jehovah for sending me your Angel who taught me everything I know about love, compassion, strength, kindness, selflessness, forgiveness, family, education, brains over beauty, inner beauty, strength, respect for your elders, being true to myself….she has helped mold me into the woman I am."
Moore, who secretly wed restaurateur Marc Daly in June, told fans that her grandmother died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. “But her heart and spirit never failed her,” she wrote. “Thank you Jehovah for allowing my last moment with her last month to be the last and for her to have met my loving husband. I truly believe she waited until she knew that I finally found someone to love and cherish me the way she did. She could not rest until she knew I would be taken care of by someone who deserved me. She didn’t recognize me at first but when I introduced them but she lit up with so much joy that my heart became overwhelmed.
Kenya Moore with her grandmother Doris Grant.
During the season eight reunion of The Real Housewives Of Atlanta, it was revealed that Patricia reached out to her daughter after she won the beauty pageant.
When a caller asked about a quote from Kenya in a 1993 People magazine article where she claimed her mother called to congratulate her, Moore clarified to host Andy Cohen, saying: ''No, that's untrue.''
She called me because People had done an article about her. She called me to tell me not to speak to the press about her. She did not call to congratulate me.
Kenya has risen above her circumstances and, no matter what, Kenya will never be invisible again. She has been open about tension within her family on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Despite having such a harrowing childhood, Kenya Moore turned her life into one of success and celebrity - but she also has not forgotten her roots. According to The Famous People, Kenya is giving back to youth who need a helping hand. She founded the Kenya Moore Foundation, which aims to help underprivileged girls from her alma mater, Cass Technical High School in Detroit, with their education.
Now that she's a mother herself, the beauty queen has different priorities. She and her husband, Marc Daly, share a daughter. Brooklyn Doris Daly has defined her "most important job in life," Kenya posted on Instagram.
Welcoming Brooklyn has brought Kenya more joy than she ever dreamed was possible. “I want her to have unconditional love that I never had from my own mother. To give life to her, protect her, allow her to flourish, and to thrive is the most rewarding aspect of being a mother. She is my entire world,” gushes Kenya.
Since welcoming Brooklyn in 2018, Kenya has relished her baby girl’s growth at every stage, all the while managing an extremely full career plate. Right now, Kenya is savoring “How smart she is, and her memory is unbelievable. We actually have conversations where she speaks to me like she is really expressing her thoughts. It’s the most precious thing.”
“I have the happiness I have searched for, and I did it my way."There is and will always be a learning curve and bumps and bruises along the way in life, but those battle scars are a roadmap to all I have accomplished. I still want more; I’m not done yet!”
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