User:Gracieburke/sandbox

= Nikuyah Walker = Nikuyah Walker (born January 17, 1980) is an Independent Party Politician born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. She is currently servicing as Charlottesville's first African American Female Mayor and works for the Charlottesville's Parks and Recreation Department.

Early Life and Education
Walker was born in Charlottesville, VA on January 17, 1980. She attended Charlottesville City Public Schools throughout her childhood, graduating from Charlottesville High School in 1998. She then went on to get her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Virginia Commonwealth University, graduating in 2004.

Marriage and Family Life
Walker is a teen mother and has three kids. She has never married.

Early Career
Throughout her adult life Walker has worked as a racial and social justice advocate. She has worked at multiple non-profits in Charlottesville, including as a substance abuse clinician, an HIV prevention educator, and as a community organizer.

Charlottesville 2017 Rally
On August 11 to 12, 2017, a white supremacist rally, otherwise known as Unite the Right was held in Charlottesville, Virginia. Protestors included neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-confederates, and neo-Nazis who marched and shouted racist and anti-Semitic chants. The rally was in response to the removal of a Confederate monument and resulted in over 30 injured and one death.

Walker’s predecessor, Michael Singer had approved the permit prior to the rally but later adamantly condemned it. Singer is a Jewish, white male.

Days after the rally, Walker attended a city council meeting to address the city’s leadership and response to the rally. When asked about Charlottesville’s leaders during the rally she said, “It’s very easy for people to blame [the white nationalist] Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler [the organizer of the rally]. But they haven’t been in charge her.”

Election
Rather than the city selecting a mayor via popular vote, the City Council elect’s city of Charlottesville’s Mayor. Walker campaigned for mayor with the slogan “Unmasking the illusion” with the belief that the democratic party has failed to tackle the root causes of racism and economic disparity, specifically in her hometown of Charlottesville. Her campaign colors were green, red, and black and she ran her campaign herself through August, driven by the idea of creating a safer community for her three children. She credits part of her campaign’s success to the Charlottesville Events less than a year prior, arguing that community members were motivated after a “summer of hate”. She had people from millionaire, middle age men to previously incarcerated black men supporting her.

In November 2017, Walker received the most City Counselor members’ votes among six candidates, with a 4-1 vote. Councilor Kathy Galvin was the only Council Member to vote on no on Walker for she feared that she would not be able to communicate affectively, and an African American female mayor would be too radical a move. Similarly, Walker’s election was a major loss for the local Democratic Party for she was the first independent mayor of Charlottesville in 1948.

Mayor of Charlottesville
On January 2, 2018, Walker was sworn in as the first African American woman mayor of Charlottesville. The two-year term of mayor is a party time position, so she is currently employed in the Parks and Recreation department by the City of Charlottesville. The main role of Mayor Walker is to preside over City Council meetings.

As mayor, she leads making clear that she cannot lead alone. She encouraged her voters to be consistently engaged in politics and works closes with minority communities to promote political and social activism. Her leadership is highly influenced by her three kids and the fact that she, as well as most black native people of Charlottesville, have been or know someone who has been incarcerated.

The issues Walker is focused on as Mayor is racial equality and affordable housing. Prior to her win, Walker believed the City Council and the greater Charlottesville community was “unwilling to have uncomfortable conversations concerning racial equality”. Affordable housing and the disparity in Charlottesville is directly related to Charlottesville’s racial inequality; Walker said “You have individuals who are in a public school setting who are getting top-notch educations, and people in the same schools, walking in the same hallways, drinking from the same water fountains, who cannot read or write.” A large proportion of Charlottesville lack educational and academic support at home and in schools as a result of systemic racism. Walker relies on local government transparency in addressing racial inequality and economic disparity.