Nikkita Oliver facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nikkita Oliver
Oliver in 2018
Born	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Education	Seattle Pacific University (BA) University of Washington (JD, MS)
Occupation	Lawyer activist educator poet

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.

Early life and education

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

Oliver attended Seattle Pacific University and earned a degree in sociology in 2008. 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. In 2015, Oliver was awarded the Artist Human Rights Leader Award by the City of Seattle's Human Rights Commission.

Oliver worked for several organizations that opposed homosexuality and maintained policies against hiring homosexuals. This included Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, which argued in federal court that its "anti-gay hiring policy is religious freedom at work". Oliver was also employed at Seattle Pacific University, which has a policy against hiring homosexuals.

2017 mayoral campaign

Oliver speaking during their 2017 mayoral campaign

..... 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. 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. 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." Oliver also brought attention to issues like homelessness, institutional racism, and poverty.

2021 City Council campaign

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

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. They are genderfluid.