Nikkita Oliver Explained

Nikkita Oliver
Birth Place:Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

Nikkita R. Oliver is an American lawyer, non-profit administrator, educator, poet, and politician. They were a candidate for Mayor of Seattle in the 2017 mayoral election, but finished third in the primary with 17% of the vote. Oliver was defeated again in an at-large Seattle city council race in 2021.

Oliver was a leader in the Black Lives Matter, civil rights, and criminal justice reform movements in Seattle, before relocating to Detroit in 2022.[1]

Early life and education

Oliver was born in Indianapolis to a white mother and black father.[2]

Oliver attended Seattle Pacific University and earned a degree in sociology in 2008.[3] 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. Oliver earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law in 2015 and Master of Education from the University of Washington College of Education in 2016.

Career

Oliver worked for the American Civil Liberties Union, as an intervention specialist, and as a chaplain at the Youth Detention Center.[4] In 2015, Oliver was awarded the Artist Human Rights Leader Award by the City of Seattle's Human Rights Commission.[5]

2017 mayoral campaign

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.[6] At the time, Oliver was a part-time teacher at 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.[6] 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."[6] Oliver also brought attention to issues like homelessness, institutional racism, and poverty.[7]

Criminal justice reform efforts

Oliver has worked as an organizer for Seattle’s No Youth Jail and Black Lives Matter movements.[8] [9] 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.[10] Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oliver helped organize and spoke at numerous protests in Seattle.[11] [12] During a closed-door meeting with Mayor Jenny Durkan, Police Chief Carmen Best, and other community leaders, Oliver live-streamed the discussion.[13] Oliver has been an advocate for de-funding the police and civic investment in community-based public health and public safety strategies.[14] [15] [16]

Oliver has also spoken about outside spending on local political campaigns.[17] In 2017, Oliver was named one of Seattle's Most Influential Seattlelites by Seattle Magazine.[18] Oliver co-drafted a resolution for Seattle’s divestment from the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017.[19]

In January 2020, Oliver was featured as the keynote speaker for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at Edmonds Community College.[20] They have been featured as a guest lecturer and speaker at the University of Michigan,[21] Reed College,[22] the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund,[23] KTCS 9,[24] Pod Save the People,[25] and Town Hall Seattle.[26] [27]

2021 City Council campaign

In March 2021, Oliver declared their candidacy for Seattle City Council position 9, but was defeated.[28]

Detroit Justice Center

In July 2022, the Detroit Justice Center announced that Oliver had joined the organization as an Associate Executive Director of Programs & Strategy, and would be relocating to Detroit.

Personal life

Oliver identifies as queer and uses they/them pronouns.[29] [30] They are genderfluid.[31]

External links

Notes and References

  1. . DJC Welcomes New Associate Executive Director of Programs & Strategy nikkita oliver. Detroit Justice Center. 2022-07-28. 2022-09-15. September 15, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220915211447/https://www.detroitjustice.org/blog/2022/7/27/djc-welcomes-new-associate-executive-director-of-programs-amp-strategy-nikkita-oliver. dead.
  2. Web site: In high-profile Seattle City Council race, Nikkita Oliver and Sara Nelson call for different kinds of change . October 18, 2021 .
  3. Web site: Nikkita Oliver . Seattle Pacific University . June 28, 2020 . December 16, 2016.
  4. Web site: Nikkita Oliver: An Activism-Based Approach to Law. July 29, 2014. June 28, 2020. ACLU of Washington.
  5. Web site: Congratulations to 2015 Human Rights Awardees!. June 28, 2020. City of Seattle.
  6. News: Kroman . David . Activist, attorney Nikkita Oliver is running for mayor . June 28, 2020 . CrossCut . March 7, 2017.
  7. Web site: McCarthy . Joe . Nikkita Oliver Ran for Mayor of Seattle and Is Fighting for Marginalized Voices . Global Citizen . June 28, 2020 . September 1, 2017.
  8. News: Candidate Profile: Nikkita Oliver . June 28, 2020 . Seattle Met . July 24, 2017.
  9. Web site: Race, Justice & Democracy: Where do we stand? . Seattle Channel . June 28, 2020.
  10. News: Cain . Sheila . The healing spaces of Creative Justice . June 28, 2020 . CrossCut . September 3, 2018.
  11. News: Uitti . Jacob . "Building People Power": Nikkita Oliver on Seattle's Extraordinary Protests and What Comes Next . June 28, 2020 . Vanity Fair.
  12. News: Nikkita Oliver on Letting the Vision Lead the Movement . June 28, 2020 . NPR . June 18, 2020.
  13. News: In Seattle, the revolution will be live-streamed . June 28, 2020 . KUOW . June 9, 2020.
  14. News: Alicea . Simone . Nikkita Oliver talks about defunding Seattle police . June 28, 2020 . KNKX . June 23, 2020.
  15. News: Seattle-area protests: March during sixth day of action after George Floyd's killing draws massive crowd around City Hall . June 28, 2020 . The Seattle Times . June 3, 2020.
  16. News: Scigliano . Eric . Don't Listen to Fox. Here's What's Really Going On in Seattle's Protest Zone. . June 28, 2020 . Politico . June 15, 2020.
  17. News: Nikkita Oliver: Outside spending to defeat Kshama Sawant means progressive message resonates . June 28, 2020 . KUOW . August 8, 2019.
  18. News: Most Influential Seattleites of 2017: Nikkita Oliver, Dominique Davis and Anne Levinson . June 28, 2020 . Seattle Magazine . November 2017.
  19. News: Pipeline activists: Severing ties with Wells Fargo now more important than ever . June 28, 2020 . The Seattle Times . February 7, 2017.
  20. Web site: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION TO FEATURE KEYNOTE NIKKITA OLIVER . Edmonds Community College . June 28, 2020 . January 10, 2020 . August 6, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200806103440/https://www.edcc.edu/news/stories/2020/article/285 . dead .
  21. Web site: School of Social Work Guest Lecture by Nikkita Oliver . March 21, 2019 . University of Michigan . June 28, 2020.
  22. Web site: Black Celebration Month: Nikkita Oliver . Reed College . June 28, 2020.
  23. Web site: 2017 Awards Ceremony . Stanley Ann Dunham Fund . June 28, 2020.
  24. Web site: Gerdes . Caroline . Celebrate 100 Years of Trailblazing Women with KCTS 9 . KTCS 9.
  25. Web site: A Box Won't Fix Racism . Pod Save the People . June 28, 2020.
  26. Web site: Race, Justice, and Democracy Where Do We Stand? . Town Hall Seattle . June 28, 2020 . March 22, 2016 . February 6, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230206090958/https://townhallseattle.org/event/race-justice-and-democracy/ . dead .
  27. Web site: Violence, Incarceration, and a Road to Repair . Town Hall Seattle . June 28, 2020 . March 25, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325175515/https://townhallseattle.org/event/danielle-sered-and-nikkita-oliver-livestream/ . dead .
  28. Web site: City elections in Seattle, Washington (2021) . Ballotpedia . 2022-08-01.
  29. News: Gutman. David. Lawyer, community organizer Nikkita Oliver announces bid for Seattle City Council. The Seattle Times.
  30. Web site: Hsieh. Steven. The Independent: Is Seattle Ready for Nikkita Oliver?. 2021-03-10. The Stranger. en.
  31. 1325250281563541506. NikkitaOliver. As a Black gender fluid femme abolitionist I can applaud a Black womxn 4 achieving her dream while also saying that…. November 8, 2020.

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