Nikkita Oliver announced their campaign for Seattle City Council. Oliver (who uses they/them pronouns), a Black attorney, educator, artist, and well-known community organizer has lived in Seattle since 2004.
Setting the tone for the campaign, Nikkita4Nine will launch today with a mutual aid event in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, involving the coordinated delivery of sleeping bags, food, and other essential supplies to residents most impacted by the overlapping crises facing Seattle. Oliver plans to continue to building on the community-centered campaign style they developed during their 2017 run for Seattle mayor as the Seattle People’s Party inaugural candidate.
Oliver has outlined nine policy areas of focus, including police divestment, investments in youth and families, and expanding racial and economic justice. While the platform lays out concrete ideas, the campaign plans to sponsor listening posts throughout Seattle. Through these events, Oliver plans to build out and refine a platform informed by Seattle’s most vulnerable and marginalized residents.
Oliver currently directs Creative Justice, an arts-based organization for the young people most likely to end up targets of the school-to-prison pipeline. Their campaign builds on their years of grassroots advocacy for a city that works for everyone. A core organizer with No New Youth Jail, Decriminalize Seattle, and Free them All WA, Oliver has fought for years to move the city to resolve social problems without relying on punishment. As a Council candidate, Oliver promises to bring the same energy to this year’s election, shaping the conversation and seeking to energize people usually left out of the conversation to realize their power to shape Seattle’s future.
Oliver has captured key early endorsements for the city-wide District 9 seat from labor, community leaders, and elected officials.
