How One Socialist Changed Seattle

Dec 14, 2023

Seattle鈥檚 famed socialist firebrand and city council member Kshama Sawant in January 2023 that she would not be seeking reelection at the end of the year. After a decade as an elected official, Sawant, a leading member of , has launched her own worker-led organization , and started a .

While on the city council, Sawant changed expectations for elected officials, refusing to bow down to financial and political pressures that most of her colleagues succumbed to, inviting and leading protests on issues of and , , , and , and . As one of her last acts in office, she recently introduced a resolution demanding a in Israel鈥檚 assault on Gaza鈥攚hich the city council ultimately declined to bring to a vote before the end of its term.聽

Sawant joined 大象传媒 Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES Presents: Rising Up With Sonali for an in-depth conversation about her city council legacy and what鈥檚 next for her.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.