{"id":15585,"date":"2015-10-13T09:29:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T15:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/?p=15585"},"modified":"2015-12-28T15:12:37","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T22:12:37","slug":"comrade-keith-percy-social-activist-wants-to-make-boulder-a-more-inclusive-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/?p=15585","title":{"rendered":"Comrade Keith Percy, social activist wants to make Boulder a more inclusive place"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Candidate<\/a>

Candidate Comrade Keith Percy poses for a photo. The poet and activist says he’s running for City Council because he wants to improve the treatment of Boulder’s homeless population, address police brutality, confront racism and build queer culture. (Photo courtesy Keith Percy)<\/p><\/div>\n

Before Comrade Keith Percy came to Boulder he was living on \u201ca literal dead-end street\u201d in northwest Michigan.<\/p>\n

It was symbolic as the council candidate says he was out of educational options, was a liberal in a conservative environment and didn\u2019t feel safe to be queer.<\/p>\n

Percy, who is 30 years old, recently celebrated his eighth anniversary in Boulder. He came to the city to attend Naropa University.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really had to leave and settle somewhere else,\u201d he recalls of his move to Boulder. \u201cComing here was a major shift in my life. I was a general liberal and Boulder is what radicalized me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Percy graduated from Naropa in the winter of 2009, with a bachelor\u2019s degree in writing and literature and a minor in peace studies. He had difficulty, though, moving about the campus in a wheelchair as the campus is older and not up-to-date on accessibility codes. Percy, who has published two books of poetry, has experience working in the Allen Ginsberg Library and for the Centers for People with Disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what makes me different from other candidates is I\u2019m a poor, disabled, queer activist,\u201d Percy says.<\/p>\n

He has been active in numerous social-justice movements, including those aimed at ending racism and the Black Lives Matter protests that gained momentum after the shooting of Michael Brown.<\/p>\n

Ilan Sherman, who met Percy through Black Lives Matter protests, is serving as Percy\u2019s campaign manager. Sherman, a teacher at New Vista High School, has invited Percy to be a guest speaker, talking to the students about his work as a disability rights activist and social change.<\/p>\n

Sherman says he\u2019s seen Percy be a consistent voice for those who are under-represented in Boulder, including the black community, transgendered citizens and those with disabilities. Percy is a regular at community meetings, rallies, vigils and discussions that center around social justice issues and he\u2019s never afraid to speak his mind, Sherman says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of person we need on City Council,\u201d Sherman says.<\/p>\n

Percy says he\u2019s concerned that Boulder isn\u2019t as open and accepting as it bills itself to be. He says he\u2019s watched his fellow comrades get pushed out of Boulder because they\u2019re priced out or they don\u2019t feel welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity knocks and it gets shot out,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Percy says he knows the struggles of affordable housing shortages in Boulder as he\u2019s living on housing vouchers and disability checks. He sees potential in cooperative housing and in tiny homes. He also suggests that Boulder, rather than targeting the homeless with camping bans, open up the city for a camping season\u2014with, say, a season of April to October. A small $10 to $14 donation-base maintenance fee could keep the site orderly and clean.<\/p>\n

If elected, he wants to better the treatment of Boulder\u2019s homeless population. He also wants to address police brutality, confront racism and build queer culture.<\/p>\n

Percy has a few favorite spots in Boulder. He enjoys the midwestern atmosphere at Mustard\u2019s Last Stand on Broadway, and North Boulder Park is his go-to meditation spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI meditate as much as I can,\u201d Percy says.<\/p>\n

He also enjoys making computer art, reading and writing.<\/p>\n

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Before Comrade Keith Percy came to Boulder he was living on \u201ca literal dead-end street\u201d in northwest Michigan. It was symbolic as the council candidate says he was out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1211,"featured_media":15587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1120],"tags":[1112,11,1110,1092,148,1111,334,1113],"class_list":["post-15585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2015-cc-candidates","tag-ada-accessibility","tag-city-council","tag-disabled","tag-election-2015","tag-homeless","tag-lgbt","tag-naropa","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15585"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15591,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15585\/revisions\/15591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boulderblueline.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}