Nikkita Oliver: Difference between revisions

'''Nikkita R. Oliver''' is an American attorney, non-profit administrator, educator, poet, and political [[activism|activist]]. They were a candidate for Mayor of Seattle in the 2017 mayoral election, and finished a narrow third in the primary with 16.99% of the vote. They are a leader in the Black Lives Matter, civil rights, and criminal justice reform movements in Seattle. Currently they are running for Seattle City Council Position 9.<ref name="Gutman">{{Cite web |title=Nikkita Oliver announces run for Seattle City Council, lays out vision for big changes |last=Gutman |first=David |work=The Seattle Times |date=March 10, 2021 |access-date=March 23, 2021 |url= https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/lawyer-community-organizer-nikkita-oliver-announces-bid-for-seattle-city-council/}}</ref>

Oliver was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to a white mother and black father.<ref name="badass_womxn">{{cite web |title=Badass Womxn in the Pacific Northwest |url=https://uw.pressbooks.pub/badasswomxninthepnw/chapter/nikkita-oliver/ |publisher=University of Washington Press |accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref> Oliver attended Seattle Pacific University and earned a Sociology degree in 2008.<ref name="spu_profile">{{cite web |title=Nikkita Oliver |url=https://spu.edu/stories/articles/nikkita-oliver/ |publisher=Seattle Pacific University |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |date=December 16, 2016}}</ref> At Seattle Pacific, Oliver became involved with student government and led a racial justice campaign called "Catalyst". Oliver also became involved with the local Black Lives Matter organization. They earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law in 2015 and a Master's of Education from the University of Washington College of Education in 2016.

Oliver has worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, as an intervention specialist, and as a chaplain at a youth detention center.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nikkita Oliver: An Activism-Based Approach to Law|url=https://www.aclu-wa.org/blog/nikkita-oliver-activism-based-approach-law|accessdate=June 28, 2020|publisher=ACLU of Washington}}</ref> In 2015, Oliver was awarded the Artist Human Rights Leader Award by the City of Seattle's Human Rights Commission.<ref>{{cite web|title=Congratulations to 2015 Human Rights Awardees!|url=https://www.seattle.gov/humanrights/what-we-do/human-rights-day|accessdate=June 28, 2020|publisher=City of Seattle}}</ref>

Oliver declared their candidacy for mayor of Seattle in March 2017, expecting to run against incumbent mayor Ed Murray, though he resigned due to multiple allegations of sexual assault before the election. Oliver announced they would be representing the "Peoples Party of Seattle", a collection of community and civic leaders, lawyers, artists, activists and teachers that began organizing after the 2016 presidential election.<ref name="crosscut_030717">{{cite news |last1=Kroman |first1=David |title=Activist, attorney Nikkita Oliver is running for mayor |url=https://crosscut.com/2017/03/nikkita-oliver-activist-seattle-mayor |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=CrossCut |date=March 7, 2017}}</ref> At the time, Oliver was a part-time teacher at Seattle

s Washington Middle School and Franklin Middle School and provided mostly pro-bono services as an attorney. Oliver also worked for Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration.<ref name="crosscut_030717"/> Oliver's campaign focused on a "radical rethinking of criminal justice investments, revisiting the city’s housing proposals to extract more from developers for affordable housing; slowing gentrification, and examining an even higher minimum wage than the recent landmark achievement of $15 an hour."<ref name="crosscut_030717"/> Oliver also brought attention to issues like homelessness, institutional racism, and poverty.<ref name="globalcitizen">{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Joe |title=Nikkita Oliver Ran for Mayor of Seattle and Is Fighting for Marginalized Voices |url=https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/nikkita-oliver-seattle-mayor-interview/ |publisher=Global Citizen |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |date=September 1, 2017}}</ref>

Oliver has worked as an organizer for Seattle’s No Youth Jail and Black Lives Matter movements.<ref name="seattle_met_profile">{{cite news |title=Candidate Profile: Nikkita Oliver |url=https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2017/07/candidate-profile-nikkita-oliver |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=Seattle Met |date=July 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Race, Justice & Democracy: Where do we stand? |url=https://www.seattlechannel.org/videos?videoid=x62677 |publisher=Seattle Channel |date= March 22, 2016|accessdate=March 23, 2021}}</ref> They work as co-director of Creative Justice Northwest, a nonprofit organization that offers programs to youth most impacted by the school-to-prison pipeline.<ref name="crosscut_090318">{{cite news |last1=Cain |first1=Sheila |title=The healing spaces of Creative Justice |url=https://crosscut.com/2018/09/healing-spaces-creative-justice |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=CrossCut |date=September 3, 2018}}</ref> Following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oliver helped organize and spoke at numerous protests in Seattle.<ref name="vanityfair_061120">{{cite news |last1=Uitti |first1=Jacob |title="Building People Power": Nikkita Oliver on Seattle's Extraordinary Protests and What Comes Next |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/06/nikkita-oliver-on-seattles-extraordinary-protests |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=Vanity Fair}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nikkita Oliver on Letting the Vision Lead the Movement |url=https://www.npr.org/podcasts/739574209/k-e-x-p-s-sound-vision |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=NPR |date=June 18, 2020}}</ref> During a closed-door meeting with Mayor Jenny Durkan, Police Chief Carmen Best, and other community leaders, Oliver live-streamed the discussion.<ref name="kuow_060920">{{cite news |title=In Seattle, the revolution will be live-streamed |url=https://www.kuow.org/stories/the-revolution-in-seattle-is-being-live-streamed |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=KUOW |date=June 9, 2020}}</ref> Oliver has been an advocate for de-funding the police and civic investment in community-based public health and public safety strategies.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Alicea |first1=Simone |title=Nikkita Oliver talks about defunding Seattle police |url=https://www.knkx.org/post/listen-nikkita-oliver-talks-about-defunding-seattle-police |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=KNKX |date=June 23, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Seattle-area protests: March during sixth day of action after George Floyd's killing draws massive crowd around City Hall |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-protests-mayor-jenny-durkan-to-meet-with-protest-leaders-today-as-demonstrators-prepare-for-sixth-day-of-action-after-george-floyds-death/ |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=The Seattle Times |date=June 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name="politico_061520">{{cite news |last1=Scigliano |first1=Eric |title=Don't Listen to Fox. Here's What's Really Going On in Seattle's Protest Zone. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/15/dont-listen-to-fox-heres-whats-really-going-on-in-seattles-protest-zone-321507 |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=Politico |date=June 15, 2020}}</ref>

Oliver has also spoken about outside spending on local political campaigns.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nikkita Oliver: Outside spending to defeat Kshama Sawant means progressive message resonates |url=https://www.kuow.org/stories/nikkita-oliver-outside-spending-to-defeat-kshama-sawant-means-progressive-message-resonates |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=KUOW |date=August 8, 2019}}</ref> In 2017, Oliver was named one of Seattle's Most Influential Seattlelites by ''Seattle Magazine''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Most Influential Seattleites of 2017: Nikkita Oliver, Dominique Davis and Anne Levinson |url=https://seattlemag.com/news-and-features/most-influential-seattleites-2017-nikkita-oliver-dominique-davis-and-anne-levinson |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=Seattle Magazine |date=November 2017}}</ref> Oliver co-drafted a resolution for Seattle’s divestment from the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pipeline activists: Severing ties with Wells Fargo now more important than ever |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/pipeline-activists-severing-ties-with-wells-fargo-now-more-important-than-ever/ |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |work=The Seattle Times |date=February 7, 2017}}</ref>

In January 2020, Oliver was featured as the keynote speaker for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Edmonds Community College.<ref>{{cite web |title=MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION TO FEATURE KEYNOTE NIKKITA OLIVER |url=https://www.edcc.edu/news/stories/2020/article/285 |publisher=Edmonds Community College |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |date=January 10, 2020}}</ref> They have been featured as a guest lecturer and speaker at the University of Michigan,<ref>{{cite web |title=School of Social Work Guest Lecture by Nikkita Oliver |url=https://events.umich.edu/event/61831 |publisher=University of Michigan |accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref> Reed College,<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Celebration Month: Nikkita Oliver |url=https://events.reed.edu/event/black_celebration_month_nikkita_oliver#.XvkR-pNKh24 |publisher=Reed College |accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref> the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund,<ref>{{cite web |title=2017 Awards Ceremony |url=https://stanleyanndunhamfund.org/2017/07/14/memorable-moments/ |publisher=Stanley Ann Dunham Fund |accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref> KTCS 9,<ref name="Gerdes">{{Cite web |title=Celebrate 100 Years of Trailblazing Women with KCTS 9 |last=Gerdes |first=Caroline |work=KCTS 9 |date=June 4, 2020 |access-date=March 23, 2021 |url= https://www.kcts9.org/thevote}}</ref> ''Pod Save the People'',<ref>{{cite web |title=A Box Won't Fix Racism |url=https://crooked.com/podcast/a-box-wont-fix-racism/ |date=July 11, 2017 |publisher=Pod Save the People |accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref> and Town Hall Seattle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Race, Justice, and Democracy Where Do We Stand? |url=https://townhallseattle.org/event/race-justice-and-democracy/ |publisher=Town Hall Seattle |accessdate=June 28, 2020 |date=March 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Violence, Incarceration, and a Road to Repair |url=https://townhallseattle.org/event/danielle-sered-and-nikkita-oliver-livestream/ |publisher=Town Hall Seattle |accessdate=June 28, 2020}}</ref>