Nikuyah Walker
{{Short description|Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = Nikuyah Walker
| office = Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia
| term_start = January 4, 2018
| term_end = January 5, 2022
| predecessor = Michael Signer
| party = Independent
| profession = Civil servant, activist
| education = Virginia Commonwealth University (BA)
| successor = Lloyd Snook
| children = 3
}}
Nikuyah Walker was the mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia from 2018 to 2021. She became the city's first black female mayor in January 2018, after being elected to the Charlottesville City Council.{{Cite web|url=http://www.charlottesville.org/departments-and-services/departments-a-g/city-council/council-members/nikuyah-walker-mayor|title=Nikuyah Walker, Mayor {{!}} City of Charlottesville|website=www.charlottesville.org|access-date=2018-12-08}}
Personal life
Walker was born and raised in Charlottesville. She graduated from Charlottesville High School in 1998 and received her bachelor's degree in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2004. She has three children.
Career
= 2017 City Council Campaign =
Walker began her campaign in March 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/07/charlottesville-virginia-nikuyah-walker-interview|title=Charlottesville's first black female mayor: 'We're not a post-racial nation'|last=Beckett|first=Lois|date=2018-08-07|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-08|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Her campaign gained traction after the Unite the Right rally in August 2017. Walker publicly pressured the City Council and then-mayor Michael Signer to answer questions about why a permit had been issued for the rally, and why the City Council was not addressing issues raised by the event.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/who-is-nikuyah-walker-charlottesville-elects-its-first-ever-black-woman-mayor-7777145|title=Charlottesville Has Elected A Black Woman As Mayor For The First Time Ever|last=Lim|first=Clarissa-Jan|website=Bustle|date=3 January 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-12-08}} Walker and Heather Hill were elected to the city council, winning 29% and 28% of the vote respectively.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbc29.com/story/36789660/hill-walker-win-2-charlottesville-city-council-seats|title=Hill, Walker Win 2 Charlottesville City Council Seats|last=Freedman|first=Emmy|website=www.nbc29.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-08}}
= Mayor of Charlottesville =
Walker was the first Independent candidate to be elected to the City Council since the 1940s. One of Walker's major goals was to increase affordable housing in the city.{{Cite news|last=Stockman|first=Farah|date=2018-07-21|title=Year After White Nationalist Rally, Charlottesville Is in Tug of War Over Its Soul|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/us/white-nationalist-rally-charlottesville-mayor.html|access-date=2018-12-08|issn=0362-4331}}
Walker participated in The National Memorial for Peace and Justice to honor the memory of John Henry James, who was lynched just outside Charlottesville in 1898.
In March 2021, Walker began taking criticism of a Tweet published to both her Mayoral and personal Twitter and her Facebook pages stating "Charlottesville: The beautiful-ugly it is. It rapes you …"{{Cite web|date=2021-03-24|title=Mayor Nikuyah Walker on Twitter: "… "|url=https://archive.today/20210324194225/https://twitter.com/nikuyahwalkercc/status/1374724379393818625?s=21|access-date=2021-03-25|website=archive.ph}}{{cite web | url=https://www.newsweek.com/charlottesville-mayor-nikuyah-walker-compares-city-being-raped-keeping-it-secret-1578572 | title=Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker Compares City to Being Raped | website=Newsweek | date=24 March 2021 }}
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Nikuyah}}
Category:Mayors of Charlottesville, Virginia
Category:Women mayors of places in Virginia
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:African-American mayors in Virginia
Category:Virginia Commonwealth University alumni
Category:Virginia independents
Category:African-American women mayors
Category:21st-century African-American politicians