Reporting by Cesar Canizales

Surrounded by family members and supporters, Joy Hollingsworth announced Monday morning she is running for the Seattle Council District 3 seat currently held by incumbent Kshama Sawant, who is currently the longest serving member on the Council.

Standing before a packed auditorium at the Martin Luther King Jr. FAME Community Center, the third-generation Central District resident told the crowd the city council needs new voices to address the many challenges the city faces.

“My perspectives on policy and public service are informed by my real-life experiences growing up. I see the school system historically excluded communities building a small business, advocating for our youth, using our platform for community reinvestment programs,” said Hollingsworth. “I want to bring these practical, applied perspectives to City Council that is missing a black and LGBTQ perspective.” 

Hollingsworth said she wants to make sure the rights of LGBTQ people are protected and keep communities safe.

“With your support, I'll focus on the issues we face every day, large and small, bringing in community to city hall by finding pathways to help people in need of service, support and always have an open door ready to listen to you,” Hollingsworth said.

The former basketball player and coach and current community advocate and marijuana farmer said she is running on a message of unity to try to solve the seemingly intractable issues like public safety, affordable housing and keeping people in their homes. 

“The main focus is about all of us unifying our voices, running on optimism, hope to be able to solve these problems that we have in our district. We have so much to look forward to in Seattle,” said Hollingsworth

The District 3 seat is held by the incumbent Kshama Sawant. She prevailed against a recall vote in 2021. Hollingsworth talked about challenging the incumbent.

“I don't see it as challenging or opposition. I see it as what I'm running for. And the biggest thing is people start running when they feel like there is a missing representation or missing needs. And so having a black LGBTQ representation on our city council is important. I was born here from here. I have a unique perspective,” she said.

Campaign volunteer Mariela Barriga said there is a lot of work that needs to be done to address the many issues in the city.

“People want affordable housing and people want young people to have engaging, supportive communities. I mean, there's just so many things that Joy touched on this morning that we all recognize as values and community, but they're just not being the needle isn't moving far enough, fast enough, I think, for some of us,” Barriga said.

Hollingsworth is the granddaughter of Dorothy Hollingsworth, a civil rights leader who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. Her mother worked for the King County Housing Authority, and her father worked for Seattle City Parks and Recreation and fought for equitable resources in public parks.

She spoke about the significance of launching her campaign on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

 

“MLK was an icon because he not only unified voices, but transformational change. And so I want to try to bring some of those things and values that he has that he had to the district. But also, my grandmother marched with MLK. He's celebrated,” Hollingsworth said. “He's a unifier, connector, community builder. Those are significant values that are needed that I have that I know that are needed on city council.

After the announcement, Hollingsworth went to Garfield High School to join the Martin Luther King Jr. Day’s celebrations, where she spoke with residents. 

Later on, she attended the reopening of the Northwest African American Museum, which had been closed for three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.