Asha Carter
Asha Carter was a 2016 D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate for an at-large seat on the Washington, D.C. City Council. Carter withdrew from the race prior to the primary election on June 14, 2016.[1]
Biography
Carter earned her B.A. in peace and justice studies from Wellesley College. She has been an advocacy specialist with the D.C. Statehood Green Party since March 2016. Carter previously served as a special assistant with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2014 to 2016.[2]
Campaign themes
2016
Carter's campaign website listed the following themes for 2016:
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I am an educator, a youth organizer, and a community member dedicated to honoring and protecting the life and dignity of all the people of D.C. This city is where I have found home, and I am honored by the opportunity to serve you. I was born and raised in the metro Atlanta area, the eldest daughter of a fifth grade school teacher and a high school track coach. My younger siblings have always been my motivation to be my best; I have one sister in college, one sister in high school, and a brother in sixth grade. My parents were both in college until I was eight years old--and between their schooling, my mother's profession, my position as the eldest child, and my own natural curiosity, education and community responsibility were central values conveyed in my upbringing. You are responsible for your siblings, your various communities, the world around you. You are never responsible for just yourself. I read, I asked questions, I listened to my elders. I was tormented by the daily realities of systemic inequality. I knew the impacts of such unequal investment were being experienced by my own family, like hyper-criminalization, toxic communities, job loss, and lack of opportunities to move forward. I felt something I knew I'd feel my entire life: the fundamental responsibility for the betterment of people's lives, especially those most marginalized among us. At 16, I made one of the best decisions of my life--my choice to attend Wellesley College, a women's institution. There, I pursued my commitment to community uplift and environment by studying Peace and Justice Studies with a concentration in Urban Development and Sustainability. My campus organizing was largely on behalf of lgbtq+ students of African descent; I spent my summers and evenings working with state legislators and environmental justice organizers advocating for community rights to fresh food, affordable and accessible transit, and quality education. Upon leaving college, I became a social justice educator engaged in local organizing for food justice, raising the minimum wage, investing in youth jobs, and combatting the irresponsible political deals that facilitated rapid gentrification. I found joy in training young people on how to engage with legislators and various stakeholders to build political power for social change. In late 2014, I was given the great honor of advancing the nation's environmental agenda as a Presidential Appointee in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In my independent capacity, I became involved with local grassroots organizing for black lives, affordable housing, and healthy communities in D.C. I fell in love with intersecting communities of thinkers, lovers, fighters, and healers. I moved here for a job and found something unexpected--home. I have grown to love this city in all its richness of culture and memory, and I believe these pieces are essential to preserve as we move forward. We cannot avoid naming this city's history of racism, classism, and lack of community investment as we build our future. We cannot afford not to heed to the voices of the organizers, the nonprofit workers, the direct service providers, the people receiving those services, and the people chanting in the streets. All of these pieces are integral to a strong democracy, and to the ultimate vitality of our communities. My role has been to function as a bridge between those working on the ground to improve people's lives and those striving to do so from within the halls of government. I have observed from a number of angles the strength of community-based approaches to solving problems, and the difficulties with those approaches being received and implemented by the people whose responsibility it is to do exactly that. I am inspired and encouraged by the leadership, vision, organizing, and resilience of D.C. residents. I am excited to work with and for you. [3] |
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| —Asha Carter (2016), [4] | ||
Recent news
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See also
- Washington, D.C.
- Municipal elections in Washington, D.C. (2016)
- United States municipal elections, 2016
External links
- District of Columbia Board of Elections, "List of Candidates in the June 14, 2016 Primary Election"
- Campaign website
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddc - ↑ LinkedIn, "Asha Carter," accessed May 9, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Asha Carter, "About the Campaign," accessed May 9, 2016
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