Meet the Candidate: KRJ For CD9
By Frankie James Albin
Kristin Richardson Jordan, or KRJ, is a published poet, teaching artist, author, and activist running for city council District 9 (CD9) in Central Harlem. Driven by her mission of bringing radical love to her district, KRJ views the fight against both climate and economic injustice as modern variations of the abolitionist movement and vows to work towards abolishing all systems of oppression. She would be the first queer, black woman elected to city council in New York City’s history, and would fight for the long-overdue, essential change needed by the people of Harlem.
A third-generation Harlemite, KRJ has spent her life bearing witness to the pervasive injustices within her community, all of which drive her to continue her work as an activist today. Harlem is medically redlined, consistently underfunded, and lacks essential improvements in sanitation, infrastructure, and affordable and quality housing. The community has also been the victim of over-policing as an excuse for “solving” many of these issues, while only making it much less safe for the people of Harlem. Central Harlem has higher asthma rates than other parts of the city, sustains disproportionately high city-wide pollution from the two highways bordering the district, and suffers from a severe lack of safe housing. The majority of the district is also in a hurricane risk zone.
KRJ is the only candidate running in CD9 who is willing to take bold stances, propose radical change, and is the only candidate in her district with a climate agenda. Her climate agenda is nestled within her HARLEM platform. This platform addresses the compounding crises facing not only her district, but the city as a whole. Police accountability, affordable housing, redistribution of wealth, effective care for seniors, gun control, and more are thoroughly addressed in her platform — all while centering environmental justice at the forefront. She understands that environmental justice is racial justice, is economic justice, and is the justice that the people of Harlem deserve.
Highlights from KRJ’s Environmental Justice for all platform include:
- Rehabilitating and beautifying Harlem’s neighborhoods
- Creating permanent open streets and pedestrian spaces
- Pushing for the Renewable Rikers plan
- Passing a Green New Deal for NYC
- Pushing for democratically run and publicly-owned utilities
- A plan for a healthy, sustainable, and just food system
There is a reason KRJ has received considerable support from community groups and organizations. As an activist, she plays an essential role for the community and so many of those organizations. Among the organizations that KRJ has been involved with, some are Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, the ANSWER coalition, the African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change and is the Social Justice Chair for United Methodist Women at Salem Church.
As a teacher, KRJ has worked for a number of notable organizations including Directions For Our Youth and Girl Be Heard, the Harlem Boys & Girls Club (as a literary specialist), and a co-founder of Freedom Love Birthright, a writing and community theatre youth program in the spirit of African and African-American ancestry. She also founded Pens up Press, an independent publishing company for Black and Latinx activists to publish and promote books for and about making a better world.
KRJ is fully community-centered, not only exemplified by her involvement in community organizations and people-focused policy, but also by her campaign’s focus on park cleanups, community wellness checks, and resource mobilization instead of traditional campaigning. “Climate justice is a moral issue. Winning this fight will result in health and economic justice for our neighbors in Central Harlem who are often oppressed through systematic, intentional, unequal exposure to dangerous environments. Now is our time and we are the ones to make NYC green for all,” said KRJ upon receiving Sunrise NYC’s endorsement this past March.
Sunrise NYC stands with pride and solidarity in endorsing KRJ. If you want to learn more about KRJ or get involved with the campaign, visit her website here. Also, be sure to make a plan to vote for KRJ in this June’s primary election here.
