Cat Brooks

Cat Brooks
Cat Brooks at a 2018 fundraising event
Nominee for
Mayor of Oakland
Election date
November 6, 2018
Incumbent Libby Schaaf
Personal details
Born Sheilagh Polk
1975/1976 (age 42–43)[1]
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Nationality American
Residence Oakland, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Cat Brooks is an American activist, playwright, poet and theater artist. She is a mayoral candidate in Oakland's 2018 election. She was born Sheilagh Polk but legally changed her name in July of 2018.

Career

Brooks received her bachelor's degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied theater.[2] After graduating, she began her acting career by studying at the National Royal Theater Studio in London and then moved to Los Angeles and worked at Creative Artists Agency. In 2002 Brooks joined the nonprofit organization Community Coalition, where she focused on issues of education and racial justice.[1]

After the shooting of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer, Brooks became active in organizing against police violence.[1] She co-founded the Anti Police-Terror Project and served as the executive director for the Bay Area National Lawyers Guild.[3] When the Black Lives Matter movement emerged, Brooks became an organizer for it. In 2015, she was arrested protesting Mayor Libby Schaaf's ban on nighttime marches in public roadways.[1][4]

Brooks hosted the radio show UpFront on KPFA.[5] Her one-woman show Tasha is loosely based on Natasha McKenna, who was tasered to death in police custody.[6]

Brooks is a candidate for mayor of Oakland, running against the incumbent Libby Schaaf.[5] Her campaign has involved collaborative assembly meetings intended to gather public feedback on local policies. She has endorsed repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.[4]

Personal life

Brooks was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to a black father and a white mother. Brooks's mother was an anti-nuclear activist who took her to protests as a child.[1]

She lives with her husband and daughter in West Oakland.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Artz, Matthew (July 7, 2015). "Black Lives Matter leader Cat Brooks playing the role of her life". East Bay Times. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Meet Cat". Cat Brooks for Oakland. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ Emslie, Alex (November 22, 2016). "Lawyers Group Blasts Oakland Cops for Response to Trump Protest". KQED. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Schuffman, Stuart (June 18, 2018). "Oakland Mayor's Race: The Evolution of Cat Brooks". Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. 1 2 BondGraham, Darwin (May 1, 2018). "Oakland Elections: Cat Brooks Jumps in Mayor's Race". East Bay Express. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  6. ↑ Janiak, Lily (July 28, 2018). "Oakland mayoral hopeful Cat Brooks brings activism to stage with SF's 3Girls". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
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