Cat Brooks | |
|---|---|
 Cat Brooks at a 2018 fundraising event | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1975 or 1976 (age 49–50)[1] Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Residence(s) | Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
Cat Brooks is an American activist, playwright, poet, union-buster and theater artist. She was a mayoral candidate inOakland's2018 election.
Brooks received her bachelor's degree fromUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied theater.[2]
After graduating, she began her acting studying at the National Royal Theater Studio inLondon, before moving toLos Angeles and working atCreative Artists Agency. In 2002, Brooks joined the nonprofit organization Community Coalition, where she focused on issues of education and racial justice.[1]
After theshooting of Oscar Grant by aBART Police officer, Brooks became active in organizing againstpolice violence.[1] She co-founded theAnti Police-Terror Project and served as the executive director for the Bay AreaNational Lawyers Guild.[3] She also became an organizer for theBlack Lives Matter movement. In 2015, Brooks was arrested protesting Oakland MayorLibby Schaaf's ban on night-time marches on public roadways.[1][4]
In the winter of 2024, workers at Brooks' non-profit organization Anti Police-Terror Project attempted to unionize before facing personal retaliation, firings, and public smear campaigns over social media. The organization and its leaders have since been accused of union busting by community supporting fired workers who predominantly identify as queer and live with disabilities.[5][6] An election is currently pending with the NLRB.[7]
In 2018, Brooks was a candidate formayor of Oakland, running against the incumbent, Libby Schaaf.[8] Her campaign involved collaborative assembly meetings intended to gather public feedback on local policies. She endorsed repealing theCosta-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.[4] After taking a break for the duration of her unsuccessful mayoral campaign, Brooks resumed her job as co-host of the two-hour weekday morning programUpFront onPacifica Radio stationKPFA-FM inBerkeley.[8] Her segment subsequently transitioned into the one-hour programLaw And Disorder.
Her one-woman showTasha is loosely based onNatasha McKenna, who wastasered to death in police custody.[9]
Brooks was born inLas Vegas, Nevada, to a black father and a white mother. Brooks's mother was ananti-nuclear activist who took her to protests as a child.[1]
She lives inWest Oakland.[2]
Brooks and Rasheed Shabazz were lead plaintiffs in a landmark Privacy violation and restoration Class-action lawsuit against Thompson-Reuters, 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW.[10]
This information is “fused and vetted by algorithm to form” what the New York Times described as “an ever-evolving, 360-degree view of U.S. residents’ lives.”
The proposed October 2024 settlement will have Thompson-Reuters paying out $27.5 million to as many California residents as apply, and adopting new practices allowing California residents to easily remove their data.
Workers at Brooks' non-profit organization Anti Police-Terror Project attempted to unionize in the winter of 2024-2025. The organization and its leaders have been accused of union busting.[11] An election is currently pending with the NLRB.[12]
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libby Schaaf (incumbent) | 84,314 | 53.19 | |
| Cat Brooks | 40,688 | 25.67 | |
| Pamela Price | 20,685 | 13.05 | |
| Saied Karamooz | 2,981 | 1.88 | |
| Ken Houston | 2,616 | 1.65 | |
| Marchon Tatmon | 2,087 | 1.32 | |
| Nancy Sidebotham | 1,733 | 1.09 | |
| Peter Yuan Liu | 1,156 | 0.73 | |
| Cedric A. Troupe | 1,116 | 0.70 | |
| Jesse A.J. Smith | 730 | 0.46 | |
| Write-in | 415 | 0.26 | |
