Robin Wonsley
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|American activist and politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Robin Wonsley
| predecessor = Cam Gordon
| website = {{url|https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/city-council/ward-2/|Ward 2 - Robin Wonsley}}
| education = Carleton College
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)
| alma_mater = University of Minnesota
| children =
| spouse =
| religion =
| residence = Seward, Minneapolis
| party = Independent socialist{{cite news |last1=DeYoe |first1=Alexandra |title=Robin Wonsley reflects on tense political relationships, socialist beginnings |url=https://mndaily.com/283836/news/robin-wonsley-reflects-on-combative-political-relationships-socialist-beginnings/ |access-date=29 April 2024 |work=The Minnesota Daily |date=April 24, 2024}}
| constituency =
| successor =
| term_end =
| image = Robin Wonsley at U of M Dems Mayoral Forum at Coffman Memorial Union, Minneapolis.jpg
| term_start = January 3, 2022
| office = Member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 2nd Ward
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1991}}
| caption = Wonsley in 2025
| otherparty = Democratic Socialists of America
}}
Robin Wonsley (born 1991) is an American activist and politician who has been a member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 2nd Ward since 2021.{{cite web |title=About Robin Wonsley |url=https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/city-council/members/ward-2/about-robin-wonsley-worlobah/ |website=www.minneapolismn.gov |access-date=4 October 2023 |language=en}}
Early life and education
Wonsley was born in Chicago in 1991 and grew up on the South Side. She attended Carleton College as a Posse Foundation{{cite web |last1=Wonsley |first1=Robin |title=The Revolution is My Boyfriend |url=https://turtleroad.org/2020/05/06/robin-wonsley-the-revolution-is-my-boyfriend/ |website=Minneapolis Interview Project |access-date=September 27, 2022 |date=May 6, 2020}} Scholar and graduated in 2013 with a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies.{{cite web |title=Robin Wonsley Worlobah |url=https://www.carleton.edu/global-engagement/gender-studies-europe/alumni-profiles/robin-wonsley-worlobah/ |website=Carleton Global Engagement |publisher=Carleton College |access-date=August 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120010452/https://www.carleton.edu/global-engagement/gender-studies-europe/alumni-profiles/robin-wonsley-worlobah/ |archive-date=January 20, 2022 |url-status=dead}} After graduation, she was awarded a Watson Fellowship that supported her travel to Canada, Australia, South Africa and Ireland, where she studied criminal justice policies and practices. She moved to Minneapolis in 2014 and became the program coordinator for the University of Minnesota Women's Center and a board member for Restorative Justice Community Action.{{cite news |last1=Hendrickson |first1=Samantha |title=Minneapolis Ward 2 City Council challenger brings grassroots approach to change |url=https://mndaily.com/266025/news/minneapolis-ward-2-city-council-challenger-brings-grassroots-approach-to-change/?fbclid=IwAR3Eq_YGxw9Bp0Jzn-wGbF3pyWNlONIxN0uYv_skE5tbHcAOOd4xacvC-fA |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Minnesota Daily |date=March 4, 2021}}
She completed a mini MBA in Nonprofit Management from the University of St. Thomas in 2015{{cite web |title=About Robin Wonsley |url=https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/city-council/ward-2/about-robin-wonsley-worlobah/ |website=The City of Minneapolis |access-date=August 17, 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Robin Wonsley - Minneapolis (Minn.) City Council (Jan. 2022-), Council Member - Biography {{!}} LegiStorm |url=https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/488080/Robin_Wonsley.html |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=www.legistorm.com |language=en}} and began a Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota in 2018. During her Ph.D. program, she conducted research on housing and racial disparities in the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Department.{{cite news |last1=Stambaugh |first1=Evan |title=Minneapolis Council Member Wants to Consider a City 'Without Police' |url=https://tennesseestar.com/2022/03/27/minneapolis-council-member-wants-to-consider-a-city-without-police/ |access-date=August 4, 2022 |work=Tennessee Star |date=March 27, 2022}}
Career
After the 2015 killing of Jamar Clark by police officers in Minneapolis, she became politically active over the next several years, including in the Black Lives Matter movement and Fight for $15 organizing efforts to raise the minimum wage in the city.{{cite news |last1=Duggan |first1=JD |date=August 18, 2021 |title=Minneapolis' Ward 2 has two strong third-party candidates running for City Council. They agree that capitalism is failing people. |work=Sahan Journal |url=https://sahanjournal.com/democracy-politics/2021-elections/minneapolis-ward-2-wonsley-worlobah-democratic-socialist/ |access-date=January 20, 2022}} She joined the Twin Cities chapter of Democratic Socialists of America in March 2020.{{cite news |last1=Birnstengel |first1=Grace |last2=Collins |first2=Jon |title=Socialism comes to the Minneapolis City Council |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/11/09/socialism-comes-to-the-minneapolis-city-council |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=MPR News |date=November 9, 2021}} In the summer of 2020, she participated in the George Floyd protests.{{cite news |last1=Michaels |first1=Samantha |title="Defund the Police" Was a Rallying Cry in 2020. Minneapolis Is About to Vote on What That Means. |url=https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2021/08/defund-the-police-minneapolis-public-safety-organizers-frey-policing/ |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Mother Jones |date=August 19, 2021}} She also became an organizer in the defund the police movement, an effort to reallocate some community resources towards crime prevention services and programs.
=Minneapolis City Council=
In 2021, she became the first Black Democratic Socialist to win a seat on the Minneapolis City Council after she defeated 14 year incumbent Cam Gordon, a member of the Green Party of Minnesota.{{Cite web|title=Minneapolis, St. Paul election results 2021: Mayor, city council, charter amendments, other local races|url=https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-election-results-2021-st-paul-mayor-police-city-council-charter-amendments-rent-control/600110186/|access-date=November 10, 2021|website=Star Tribune}}{{cite news |last1=Navratil |first1=Liz |title=Robin Wonsley once again declared winner after recount in Minneapolis council race |url=https://www.startribune.com/robin-wonsley-once-again-declared-winner-after-recount-in-minneapolis-council-race/600122660/?refresh=true |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Star Tribune |date=December 1, 2021}} The election also became the first time Minneapolis elected a majority of people of color to the city council.{{cite news |last1=Du |first1=Susan |title=A Minneapolis first: Candidates of color win a majority of City Council seats |url=https://www.startribune.com/a-minneapolis-first-candidates-of-color-won-a-majority-of-city-council-seats/600112821/ |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Star Tribune |date=November 3, 2021}}
Wonsley represents the 2nd Ward, which includes the neighborhoods of Cedar-Riverside, Como, Cooper, Longfellow, Prospect Park, Seward, and the University District.{{cite news |title=A guide to the 2021 Minneapolis mayor and City Council candidates |url=https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-voter-guide-mayor-city-council-candidates-ward-2021-election-charter-amendments/600096731/ |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Star Tribune |date=October 1, 2021}} After the election, she identified housing as a major issue for the ward, and rent control as one of her policy priorities. She also advocated for the development of policy to address encampments in Minneapolis and the needs of encampment residents{{cite news |last1=Moini |first1=Nina |title=2020 Minneapolis park encampments |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/01/14/minneapolis-city-officials-seek-humanitarian-response-to-unsheltered-residents-in-camps |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=MPR News |date=January 14, 2022}} and joined four other councilmembers in supporting the development of a rent control policy.{{cite news |last1=Mahamud |first1=Faiza |title=Minneapolis council debate on rent control starts to take shape |url=https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-council-debate-on-rent-control-starts-to-take-shape/600135545/ |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Star Tribune |date=January 13, 2022}} In January 2022, she called for a stop to evictions from homeless encampments, and was joined at a protest against eviction at the Near North homeless encampment by councilmembers Elliott Payne, Jeremiah Ellison, Jason Chavez, and Aisha Chughtai.{{cite news |last1=Feland |first1=Hayley |title=Newly Elected Minneapolis Council Member Makes Statement After Defending Homeless Encampment from Eviction |url=https://tennesseestar.com/2022/01/24/newly-elected-minneapolis-council-member-makes-statement-after-defending-homeless-encampment-from-eviction/ |access-date=August 4, 2022 |work=Tennessee Star |date=January 24, 2022}}
As of January 2024, Wonsley serves as the chair of the Administration & Enterprise Oversight Committee and the vice-chair of the Public Health & Safety Committee.{{cite web | last=Minneapolis | first=City of | title=City Council organizes for new term | website=City of Minneapolis | date=2024-01-08 | url=https://www.minneapolismn.gov/news/2024/january/city-council/ | access-date=2024-01-11}}
Personal life
She resides in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis.{{cite news |last1=King |first1=RB |title=Mpls City Council newcomer Robin Wonsley lays out her vision |url=https://spokesman-recorder.com/2021/12/22/mpls-city-council-newcomer-robin-wonsley-lays-out-her-vision/ |access-date=January 20, 2022 |work=Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder |date=December 22, 2021}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Minneapolis City Council}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worlobah, Robin Wonsley}}
Category:21st-century African-American politicians
Category:21st-century Minnesota politicians
Category:21st-century American women politicians
Category:African-American activists
Category:African-American city council members in Minnesota
Category:African-American women in politics
Category:Carleton College alumni
Category:Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Minnesota
Category:Minneapolis City Council members
Category:Politicians from Chicago