Dear Community -
We are not defeated!
Before all votes had even been counted, the Seattle Times headline on November 4, 2021 read, “Sara Nelson Defeats Nikkita Oliver, Teresa Mosqueda Beats Kenneth Wilson in Seattle City Council Races.” There is a significant difference between a loss and a defeat. We have lost this race, but we are not defeated. 45.82% of those who voted in the 2021 Seattle City Council Position 9 race voted FOR anti-racism and abolition. We’ve won more than we’ve had before and, right now, we are in the midst of a well-funded conservative, arguably right wing, backlash.
My entire life I have been told that being an activist and community organizer is not enough; serving the community daily on the frontlines of the crises we are surviving is not enough. So I went to law school, earned a law degree, a masters of education, and got a bar card. I’ve taught in public and private schools (including a law school), represented clients pro-bono in school exclusion, eviction and employment discrimination cases, filed amicus briefs to the Washington State Supreme Court, successfully written and supported the passing of legislation, and participated in the founding of a thriving restorative justice organization. I’ve served our most marginalized and disenfranchised communities for the majority of my career. And still, after all of that, I was told that it is not enough.
Many people have offered, “Nikkita you should run for office. That is how you change things--from the inside out.” So I ran, not once but twice, to be elected to a political office in the City of Seattle. What I have learned is, “This system is not enough. It is unjust. It can be bought. And it does not want to change; especially from the inside out.”
The Seattle Times Editorial Board essentially called me a “disruptive negro” (in coded language of course) stating, “Nikkita Oliver has evolved into a polished politician since a failed 2016 mayoral run revealed a sporadic voting history and an appetite for civic disruption. Voters should not be fooled by the slick talk.” They twisted our platform out of context and used words like “aspirational” and “impractical” to describe policies and budgetary investments that prioritize the needs of our most vulnerable and disenfranchised residents. And in the same article literally use the word “superior” to describe my opponent who is a wealthy white woman. While I am sure they would say it had nothing to do with race, it is not at all far-fetched to think the corporate media machine, whether intentionally or unintentionally, would play into racialized tropes.
Even more, in this election cycle, in Seattle and all over the country, opponents of abolition and anti-racism had to pour millions of dollars into elections to win against abolitionists and anti-racists. Sara Nelson’s campaign alone spent $555,027.60 plus $187,754.24 in third party expenditures in her favor. A PAC mobilized against our campaign (and clearly in favor of Nelson) spent $311,293.73 on attack mailers that twisted our platform, lied, mocked my gender pronouns, and fear mongered in a style much like the 1990s “tough on crime era super predator myth.” This PAC was funded by the wealthiest in our region. Corporations who have made their money on the backs of exploited workers poured cash into attack ads and disinformation. This type of campaigning, while it does win elections, is an affront to democracy and truth and it is an intentional attack on people of color, workers and renters throughout our region.
Ultimately, roughly $1 million, in the midst of a recession and pandemic, is what it took to buy Sara Nelson a seat on the Seattle City Council. This is not how you defeat your opponent. This is how you buy an election. This is how you sow Trump-like disinformation with racist fear and hate mongering propaganda to scare people and coerce votes.
Their success at buying these elections is further testament to what we already know: our electoral system is, and always has been, unjust and undemocratic. When half the city is not engaged enough to vote, we should question that system.
At the same time, despite the outpouring of money by our opponents, over 120,000 Seattleites voted for anti-racism and abolition between two key races. Those who benefit from policing and mass incarceration, and the elected officials who serve them, are on the defensive and their defenses are barely eeking by, despite the fact that the system is rigged to respond to their wealth.
#Nikkita4Nine put in real on the ground work through community listening posts, canvassing, mutual aid, organized labor, movement building, and meeting with residents. We campaigned on our policies, our values, and our commitment to addressing the basic needs of every resident in Seattle. As a result, thousands of people voted for a public health and safety system that prioritizes restoration, prevention and intervention rather than punishment, retribution and violent—sometimes deadly—escalation. Thousands voted for transportation and housing for all, a Green New Deal, an end to the racist legacy of redlining and exclusionary zoning, and progressive revenue generation that would turn our upside down tax system right side up.
I feel compelled in this moment to tell every disillusioned voter who begrudgingly filled out their ballot just so they could vote for #Nikkita4Nine, it was worth it. I know that right now it feels like your vote didn’t count, but it did. We now know that at least 120,000 residents of Seattle believe another world is possible. Our job now is to find each other and organize our communities together towards the better, truly progressive Seattle we envision.
Seattle cannot remain dominated by moneyed interests and a police department that has essentially been offered a blank check for decades. Why has policing had access to bottomless resources, while we face austerity when it comes to housing, childcare, healthcare, education, arts and other essential supports and services? We need to keep being the voices that city government cannot ignore. Our opponents have shown us that they have more money than us; which we already knew. What we have on our side is that our agenda benefits all the people of Seattle rather than a handful of elites. We won’t win just by going through or appealing to elite institutions, but our work must include mass mobilization to push those institutions toward the solutions our communities want and need.
During the election Sara Nelson said City Hall needs to stop listening to the “loudest voices in the room.” Well, money talks—money talks really loud—and always seems to be in the room, while the most marginalized and disenfranchised in Seattle are standing outside City Hall chanting. And while money talks real loud, actions speak louder than words.
Now is the time for action! We must keep doing the work. We cannot wait four years for the next election cycle. We must continue working in community to address all the needs the City still fails to meet. If there is enough people power, it doesn’t matter who is in office. Whoever it is will be forced to respond or get out of the way.
Some will mock this “concession” letter, but I am not writing for them. I am writing for the thousands of people committed to truth telling, justice and real people powered democracy. I am writing for those who desire something better and are ready to organize for it. Because while our race in the 2021 election ends here, the Movement continues stronger and more emboldened than ever.
Our work moving forward requires mass organization. As Kwame Ture said, “A revolutionary knows the difference between mass mobilization and mass organization.” Mobilization lasts for a moment. Organization is what transforms systems. We’ve mobilized. Now, let’s get organized. Remembering, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “…the arc of the moral universe is long, but bends towards justice.” We are the bend in the arc of the moral universe. We must keep pushing onward towards justice however long it may take!
Solidarity,
nikkita oliver (they/them/theirs)