David Oks
{{Short description|American writer (born 2001)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = May 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Oks
| birth_name = David E. Oks
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|2001}}
| education = Pembroke College, Oxford
| known_for = Managing the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign
}}
David E. Oks ({{IPAc-en|ɒ|k|s}}) is an American writer and former political activist, best known for organizing and managing the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign as a high school senior.{{cite web |last1=Keiles |first1=Jamie Lauren |title=Are These Teenagers Really Running a Presidential Campaign? Yes. (Maybe.) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/magazine/mike-gravel-teens-twitter-presidential-campaign.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=15 June 2019 |date=6 June 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Crosbie |first1=Jack |title=Mike Gravel's Viral 2020 Campaign Is the Brainchild of a New York Teen |url=https://splinternews.com/mike-gravels-viral-2020-campaign-is-the-brainchild-of-a-1833434906 |website=Splinter |date=March 20, 2019 |access-date=15 June 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Graham |first1=David A. |title=Mike Gravel's Plan to Rock the Democratic Primary |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/04/mike-gravels-unlikely-democratic-presidential-campaign/586837/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=15 June 2019 |date=10 April 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Farzan |first1=Anita Noori |title=An 88-year-old ex-senator is the newest Democratic dark horse |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/21/an-88-year-old-ex-senator-is-the-newest-democratic-dark-horse/ |website=Press Herald |access-date=15 June 2019 |date=21 March 2019}} In 2020, Oks helped found the Gravel Institute, a progressive political advocacy group named after Mike Gravel, following the end of Gravel's 2020 presidential campaign.{{cite web |last1=Pollard |first1=Amelia |title=The Gravel Institute Punches Up |url=https://prospect.org/politics/gravel-institute-punches-up/ |website=The American Prospect |access-date=28 June 2022 |language=en-us |date=11 May 2021}}
Early life and education
Oks was born to a family of Jewish immigrants from Argentina.{{cite web |last1=Pink |first1=Aiden |title=An Orthodox Teenager Is Running The Most Unorthodox Presidential Campaign |url=https://forward.com/news/national/424544/mike-gravel-democratic-presidential-campaign-2020/ |website=The Forward |date=May 20, 2019 |access-date=15 June 2019}}
Oks attended the Masters School, where he was a student when he convinced former senator Mike Gravel to enter the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. He enrolled in Pembroke College at the University of Oxford in the fall of 2019.{{cite web|last1=Bring|first1=Daniel M.|date=28 August 2019|title=David Oks's day off|url=https://spectator.us/david-oks-gravel-teen-interview/|access-date=31 August 2019|website=Spectator USA}}
Campaign work
Oks previously ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for mayor of Ardsley, New York in 2017.{{Cite web|date=2017-11-07|title=16-Year-Old Wants To Become Next Mayor Of Ardsley, Then Go From There|url=https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/greenburgh/politics/16-year-old-wants-to-become-next-mayor-of-ardsley-then-go-from-there/726301/|access-date=2020-06-29|website=Greenburgh Daily Voice|language=en}} His campaign for mayor was notable for his young age, which received attention in The New York Times and on WNYC.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/nyregion/young-candidates-for-political-office.html|title=Too Young to Vote, but Asking for Yours|last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W.|date=2017-09-28|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-28|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/teen-mayor-ardsley-campaign/|title=Teen Betting on Write-In Campaign for Ardsley Mayor {{!}} WNYC {{!}} New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News|website=WNYC|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}} He garnered 50 votes, or approximately 3% of the vote, in the election.{{Cite journal |title=VILLAGE OF ARDSLEY - MAYOR |url=https://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/images/stories/pdfs/2017canvassGeneral1107.pdf |journal=2017 General Election Canvass Book |pages=557 |via=Westchester County}}
= Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign =
Oks contacted Gravel on March 14, 2019, to propose a campaign in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. The stated goal was not to win the primaries but to reach the Democratic debate stage.{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/an-88-year-old-ex-senator-is-the-newest-democratic-dark-horse-thanks-to-the-acerbic-teens-running-his-twitter/ar-BBV5Tsw|title=An 88-year-old ex-senator is the newest Democratic dark horse thanks to the 'acerbic' teens running his Twitter|website=www.msn.com|access-date=2019-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528023103/https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/an-88-year-old-ex-senator-is-the-newest-democratic-dark-horse-thanks-to-the-acerbic-teens-running-his-twitter/ar-BBV5Tsw|archive-date=May 28, 2019|url-status=dead}} Gravel was hesitant at first, but Oks and school friend Henry Williams convinced Gravel to launch a campaign in order to promote their left-of-center political views.
According to Oks, he first learned about Gravel from Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, but was also encouraged by Felix Biederman's praise of Gravel on Chapo Trap House.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/20/mike-gravel-2020-presidential-campaign|title=Meet the 88-year-old powering his insurgent 2020 bid with teens|last=Adjei-Kontoh|first=Hubert|date=2019-04-20|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-05-28|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
Shortly after the campaign unofficially launched on March 20, 2019, Oks claimed authorship of posts that attracted much attention on Twitter.
Along with Williams, Oks was the subject of a June 9, 2019 profile in The New York Times Magazine.
After Gravel's campaign ended on August 6, 2019, Oks said that his goal with the campaign was "to push for a new sort of politics" and "to talk about issues we thought no other candidate was talking about."{{cite web |title=Mike Gravel's former campaign manager reflects on end of run |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/mike-gravels-former-campaign-manager-reflects-on-end-of-run/# |website=CBS News |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=17 August 2019}}
Subsequent work
According to The American Prospect, Oks was involved with the creation of the Gravel Institute, a now defunct advocacy group that promoted progressive causes and ideas through YouTube videos.
Oks has written several articles for Palladium Magazine,{{Cite web|title=David Oks, author at Palladium Magazine|url=https://www.palladiummag.com/author/david-oks/|access-date=2024-01-15 |website=Palladium Magazine |date=February 23, 2023 |language=en}} including reporting from Afghanistan{{Cite web|title=The West Lives On in the Taliban's Afghanistan|url=https://www.palladiummag.com/2023/02/23/the-west-lives-on-in-the-talibans-afghanistan/|date=2023-02-23 |access-date=2024-01-15|website=Palladium Magazine |language=en}} and Ukraine.{{Cite web|title=Waiting for the Russians in Ukraine|url=https://www.palladiummag.com/2022/02/18/waiting-for-the-russians-in-ukraine/|access-date=2024-01-15|date=2022-02-18 |website=Palladium Magazine |language=en}}
With Henry Williams, Oks published a piece in American Affairs arguing that outside of East Asia, development built on manufacturing has generally failed and has weak prospects.{{Cite web|title=The Long, Slow Death of Global Development|url=https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2022/11/the-long-slow-death-of-global-development/|date=2022-11-01 |website=American Affairs |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=
Odd Lots Transcript: So Much of the World Economy Has Been Going in Reverse|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/transcript-so-much-of-the-world-economy-has-been-going-in-reverse|date=2022-11-01 |website=Bloomberg |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oks, David}}
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:21st-century American journalists
Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford
Category:American campaign managers
Category:American magazine journalists
Category:American Modern Orthodox Jews
Category:American people of Argentine-Jewish descent
Category:Candidates in the 2017 United States elections
Category:Hispanic and Latino American journalists
Category:Jewish American journalists
Category:The Masters School alumni
Category:People associated with the 2020 United States presidential election