Meet the Black Lives Matter advocate doing more than just protesting.
Thirty-year old DeRay Mckesson, who rose to prominence in the past year after being one of the forerunners of the national Black Lives Matter movement, has officially filed to run for mayor of Baltimore just 83 days before election polls are to open.
““I am running to be 50th Mayor of Baltimore in order to usher our city into an era where the government is accountable to its people and is aggressively innovative in how it identifies and solves its problems.” Mckesson announced in a post on Medium late Wednesday evening [February 3, 2015].
Running on the Democratic ticket, the young hopeful is joined former mayor Sheila Dixon, Senator Catherine Pugh, Councilmen Carl Stokes and Nick Mosby, and a remaining list of 10 others.
Mckesson, who boasts a Twitter following of nearly 300,000, says he will have a platform within the next week. When questioned about his tardy entrance into the race, he acknowledges he has a lot more to do than other candidates now.
“I have come to realize that the traditional pathway to politics, and the traditional politicians who follow these well-worn paths, will not lead us to the transformational change our city needs. Many have
accepted that our current political reality is fixed and irreversible — that we must resign ourselves to accept the way that City Hall functions, or the role of money and connections in dictating who runs and wins elections. They have bought into the notion that there is only one road that leads to serve as an elected leader.”
Daily News Senior Justice Writer, Shaun King, who has also been at the center of the Black Lives Matter movement, has co-signed Mckesson’s candidacy, stating he’s the candidate with the most knowledge about the harsh realities of the city.
“He knows better than anybody that Baltimore is a tough place to lead and a tough place to even run for mayor, but he’s been though the fire himself these past few years. He has deep roots there and his presence in this race should put everybody on their A-game.”
You can read DeRay Mckesson’s full declaration of candidacy online at Medium.
