India Walton’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

India Walton Wiki – India Walton Biography

India Walton is a socialist candidate, nurse, and activist who could be the next mayor of Buffalo. Walton leads her race against incumbent Democrat Byron Brown on June 22, 2021, primarily to represent the party in the New York City elections. Walton has claimed victory, but Brown has yet to relent as he awaits the results of the absentee vote, Buffalo News reports. The newspaper adds that insiders don’t think there are enough ballots left for Brown to beat Walton, who has an 11,132-to-9,625 vote lead.

The 38-year-old would be the first woman to become mayor of Buffalo if she takes office in January 2022. She may have one more challenge ahead, as independent Scott Wilson is currently on the November 2021 ballot, but according to the Buffalo News, his status as an applicant candidate is being contested. Brown could also mount a written campaign against Walton in the general election, reports WIVB. Brown has been mayor of the city for four terms.

Walton, who was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Family Party, said at a victory celebration, according to WIVB, “This is the work of a well-meaning group of rebels and revolutionaries who had a bold vision on what we want the future of our city to look like. We set out not only to change Buffalo, but to change the way procedural politics is viewed in upstate New York. From the beginning, I said, this is not about making India Walton Mayor of Buffalo. She is all about building the infrastructure to challenge all the damn posts. I mean committee positions, school boards, common councils. ”

When asked by reporters if she considered herself a socialist after the primary elections, she said: “Oh, of course. The whole intention of this campaign is to bring power and resources to the ground level and into the hands of the people, ”according to Buffalo News. She added: “As the third poorest medium-sized city in this country, we should consider how we begin to eradicate concentrated poverty and disadvantage. And Democratic Socialist leanings are a big step to get us there. ”She would be the first Socialist mayor in a major American city since Frank Zeidler in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who served from 1948 to 1960, according to The New York Times.

India Walton Age

India Walton is 38 years old.

Walton Background

Walton was born India Suttles in Buffalo as one of six children, according to his campaign website. According to her website, she “became a full-time working mother at the age of 14.” She had two more children, twins, when she was 19 years old.

Walton told WIVB in May 2021: “I am a leader! I think the whole line of inexperience is kind of a trope. It is inaccurate. I have a lot of experience and although I am only 38 years old, an hour is probably not enough to talk about my life trajectory and my story. The experiences I have had have made me a bold and fearless leader, and I am not afraid of anything. I think those are qualities that people crave in leadership. ”

Walton told the news station: “She was pregnant at 14 because she was a know-it-all. I thought I knew everything. I thought that I was in love and that if I had a baby, it would help me escape from home. I was the main caregiver for my younger siblings. I thought, ‘Listen, if I’m going to run a house anyway, I might as well run my own house.’

Walton dropped out of school when she was pregnant as a teenager, but later obtained her GED while she was pregnant with her twin children at the age of 18, according to her campaign website. Her children “were born prematurely, an experience that inspired her to become a nurse in the same NICU where the lives of her children were saved.” Walton graduated from Erie Community College with an associate’s degree in nursing in 2007.

According to her campaign website, “As a healthcare worker, India became a representative in the 1199 SEIU union, defending both workers and patients from the pickets in Buffalo to the steps of the US Supreme Court. a national rally for women’s rights in 2014. Continuing as a nurse in Buffalo Public Schools, India witnessed the health disparities among our most vulnerable citizens and was determined to change the systems that cause these injustices. ”

She told Spectrum News a week before the election: “What has been the experience of the last 16 years? I am a registered nurse and I know that if I was underperforming and really hurt my patients, I would not have a job. Buffalo is ready for leadership with bold new ideas to get us out of this pandemic with a fair recovery. ”

Walton’s husband and children

Walton is married to Vernon Walton and they have four children, Mahkahi Jones, Mikhail Walton, Marquan Walton, and Mason Walton. A video of Walton enthusiastically celebrating after declaring election victory during a call with his mother, Doris Siddiq, quickly spread on social media. “Mommy, I won. Mommy, I’m the mayor of Buffalo. Well, not until January, but yes, ”you can hear him say.

Walton told The New Republic a week before the primaries: “I didn’t like the way my family was treated when we were in the NICU. I felt very fired. That’s just one example of the resources it takes to live a decent life, right? And the expectation that we have with people, to be able to function in a society in which they are made to believe that their resources are so scarce that they will never be able to achieve anything. ”

Walton added, “When I went back to work there,” he tells me about the hospital where his twins were born, “it was even worse. I mean, people just openly, not just racist, but also class, saying derogatory things about some of the families and their means and resources. ”

Walton also told The New Republic: “One family is me and all my friends, and my neighbors are my family and Buffalo is my family. We deserve community and have leadership rooted in the values ​​of caring and love. I think it’s something that is becoming more and more attractive to people because we’ve been isolated for so long, right? ”

Walton has been a longtime activist

Walton has been an activist in Buffalo for several years, but his run for mayor was his first foray into politics. According to her LinkedIn profile, Walton served as the lead organizer of Open Buffalo from 2017 to 2019 and was a founding CEO of FB Community Land Trust Inc., from 2018 to 2020. She is also a member of the board of Locust Street Art, Slow Roll Buffalo and Cooperation Buffalo, according to their LinkedIn page.

According to her campaign website, “India’s commitment to systemic change led to her becoming an Open Buffalo community organizer, establishing herself as a thought leader on a wide range of issues, including criminal justice reform and housing. fair. Her work on the latter led to her being named the founding CEO of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, for which she worked with longtime residents to develop permanently affordable housing. ”

Walton told Jacobin magazine: “Our campaign is an insurgent campaign driven by people: individual donors, grassroots fundraisers, door knockers, telephone bankers. We are proving in real time that you don’t have to be part of the establishment to be competitive. ”

She added:

I do not consider myself the center of this campaign. I am not necessarily looking for all staff members and volunteers with the most conventional experience. I am an organizer. I am looking for people that I can help to grow and educate. Win or lose, this campaign is building an infrastructure that will outlast and outlast these elections. Our volunteers are gaining real-life experience that prepares them to be volunteers, staff members, and candidates for effective insurgent campaigns in the future.

Activists on the streets last summer were told that we were just making noise, that it would be worth nothing. This campaign is reclaiming that protest energy and turning it into an enduring political power. It is not impossible. You only need the infrastructure to do it. And because much of my experience comes from the labor organization, I understand that there is no person who is insignificant and that you pay attention to everyone, especially those who have less, because to the people who have less and the people who have been heard. at least they will be the ones who will fight the most.

Walton told Challenger Community News: “I decided to run for mayor of Buffalo because I am tired of seeing my community in this condition. Nearly half of our children live in poverty, while the racial wealth and homeownership gap in Buffalo continues to widen. It saddens me to see cranes in the sky and hear stories of a rebirth knowing full well that the story for most Buffaloes, particularly east of Main Street, is the opposite. I am running because we have strived as a community to be self-determined and self-reliant. The way we get there is with leadership that works, listens and is accountable to the people. ”

Walton’s campaign included a commitment

Walton told Challenger Community News: “I am a tireless advocate for progressive change. From the bedside to our schools as a nurse or fighting for criminal legal reform, fully funded schools, an end to the war on drugs, and the school-to-prison pipeline. A vote for me is a vote for us ”.

On his campaign website, Walton lists public safety, housing, immigration, pandemic recovery, the arts, climate, economic development, education, access to food and infrastructure as key issues. of your campaign.

She states: “Our platform is people-centered and rooted in love, with the belief that fairness and justice are essential. We believe in love for community, respect for culture, and reverence for resources. We believe that housing, health, healthy eating and quality education are basic human rights; And when we invest in our community, we create the conditions in which all residents feel valued and can thrive. Buffalo is rich in resources. From our oceanfront location to our wonderful arts and cultural community, it has many economic drivers. We envision a Buffalo where people are housed, healthy and have the ability to live to their fullest potential. ”

She told Jacobin:

The Buffalo I envision is one free from hostile, militarized policing, one where there is spacious and truly affordable housing, where there are opportunities for common ownership and cooperative employment, where people work for organizations in which they have a stake. I want to live in a deeply democratic city where all voices are heard, including those who cannot vote, either because of their age or because of their immigration status. The leadership of this city must govern all who live here.

So my dream for Buffalo is just that: a state of deep democracy and co-government where everyone is valued and can prosper.

In 2015 or 2016, I helped with a community policing survey and there was an overwhelming consensus that there was a lack of trust between Buffalo police and the community. We took that information to the local newspaper and they discarded it. We took him to the city and the city said, ‘No, we don’t have problems like that.’ Then, in the next four or five years, Buffalo police killed at least five people and assaulted a 75-year-old man. during a protest last summer. Nothing was done. No liability in any of those cases.

On policing, Walton wrote on her campaign website: “India will bring accountability, transparency and community-centered service to the Buffalo Police Department (BPD). She will prioritize addressing the root causes of crime, such as concentrated poverty and a lack of decent-paying jobs; emphasizing harm reduction and restorative justice programs rather than punitive measures. ”

In her first 100 days, she wants to: “Prevent the police from responding to most mental health calls and work with county and BPD leaders to establish a new response to mental health crisis calls using professionals. of mental health. … End the enforcement of the low-level drug possession law by ordering the police not to arrest people for simply possessing a small amount of drugs and paraphernalia such as syringes. … direct the Legal Department to conduct a comprehensive review of the city’s ability to discipline and fire bad cops, and uphold disciplinary decisions to the fullest extent possible. … Make police data public to the extent permitted by law, including data on racial disparities in arrests and detentions, disciplinary records of officers, the number of officers living outside the city, and an inventory of weapons and military equipment owned by BPD “.