Kina Collins

Kina Collins is an American community organizer and activist, whose work has focused on issues of gun violence, criminal justice reform, and universal healthcare.[1][2] Collins is a candidate in the 2020 U.S. House election for Illinois' 7th congressional district.[2][3][4]

Kina Collins
Profile of Kina Collins, taken in May 2019 (Photo by Sarah Matheson)
Born (1991-03-08) March 8, 1991
Chicago, Illinois[1]
OccupationCommunity organizer and activist
Political partyDemocratic Party
Websitehttp://www.kinaforcongress.com

Early life and education

Collins was born and raised in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.[2][4] She was a student in the Chicago Public Schools system, during which time she served as a Summer of Service Learning Ambassador.[5] She attended Carthage College and Louisiana State University, where she studied international political economy and sociology respectively.[2][5][6]

Activism and career

Community organizing and non-profit work

From 2015 to 2017, Collins worked as a regional organizer from Louisiana for Generation Progress, a youth-centered research and advocacy group formed under the Center for American Progress.[7][6] During 2016–17, she was selected as a member of Generation Progress' #Fight4AFuture National Leadership Council, which developed campaigns on gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform.[8][9]

In 2017, she founded an organization called the Chicago Neighborhood Alliance, with the goal of empowering activists to end gun violence in Chicago through civic engagement.[2][10][11][12]

Since September 2018, Collins has worked as a national organizer for Physicians for a National Health Program.[2][13][6]

Electoral politics and government

Collins was a staff member in J. B. Pritzker's campaign for governor of Illinois in 2018, but resigned after recordings of conversations between Pritzker and Rod Blagojevich in 2009 where Pritzker made racially insensitive remarks were publicly released.[14] Later in that election cycle, she served as the political director for Sameena Mustafa's campaign for Illinois' 5th congressional district.[14][15]

In 2018, Collins co-authored the Illinois Council on Women and Girls Act, which created a council to advise the governor and state lawmakers on issues concerning women and girls.[2][5][16] She served as the Council's inaugural chairwoman.[17][18][19] During her tenure as the Council's chair, Collins was also selected by Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia to serve on the Status of Women and Girls in Chicago working group.[20]

During the 2019 Chicago aldermanic election, Collins helped form a coalition of organizations called Brand New Council, which aimed to elect progressive candidates of color to Chicago City Council.[21][11][22] The coalition endorsed 16 candidates and worked to register new voters.[21][23]

Recognition

She received the Vernita Grey Community Activist Award from the Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women in 2018.[5]

2020 candidacy for Congress
See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois § District 7

Collins formally announced her candidacy for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 7th congressional district on May 13, 2019.[24][2] She challenged incumbent congressman Danny K. Davis in the Democratic Party primary election for the seat in March 2020, in addition to two other challengers, Anthony Clark and Kristine Schanbacher. Collins highlighted single-payer healthcare, research and resources for gun violence prevention, and criminal justice reform as her three top priorities if elected.[3][25] She received endorsements from several local officials, including Chicago alderman Jeanette Taylor, Illinois House Representative Anna Moeller, two Oak Park village trustees, two River Forest village trustees, and two local school board members.[26] She was also endorsed by several organizations including the Center for Popular Democracy,[27] Women's March Illinois,[28] and Northside Democracy for America.[29] In the March 17, 2020 primary election, she placed second with 13.9% of the vote.

References
  1. "Kina Collins". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  2. Kapos, Shia; Hurst, Adrienne. "LIGHTFOOT's Council challenge — TRUDEAU hits Chicago — Activist will face DANNY DAVIS". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  3. "Kina Collins". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  4. "Meet Kina". Kina Collins for Congress. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  5. Chicago NOW (2018-09-28). "Meet our 2018 Woman Who Dared: Kina Collins". Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  6. Collins, Kina. "Kina Collins | LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  7. "STATEMENT: Generation Progress #Fight4AFuture Network Members on Recent Police Shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile". Generation Progress. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  8. "RELEASE: Generation Progress Names 20 Young People to National Leadership Council for Gun Violence Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform". Generation Progress. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  9. "Meet The 2016-2017 #Fight4AFuture National Leadership Council". Generation Progress. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  10. "Inspirational Woman 2018: Kina Collins". skinlessproject.com. 2018-06-07. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  11. Spielman, Fran (2018-10-10). "Same activists who won justice for Laquan set sights on City Council races". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  12. Armentrout, Mitchell (2018-11-21). "Domestic violence, gun control in spotlight at vigil for Mercy shooting victims". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  13. "PNHP Board of Directors and Staff". PNHP. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  14. "Pritzker staffer who quit over racial comments speaks out". ABC7 Chicago. 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  15. Li, Amy (2018-03-05). "Northwestern alumna Sameena Mustafa runs for Congress in Illinois". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  16. Staff, WICS/WRSP (2019-04-09). "Kick-off celebration held for new Illinois Council on Women and Girls". WICS. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  17. "Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia taps female power players to improve status of city's girls and women". Chicago Foundation for Women. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  18. WGN News (2018-06-03), IL Council for Women and Children, retrieved 2019-06-19
  19. "Gov. Pritzker announces 21 new members of Illinois Council on Women and Girls". CIProud. 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  20. Stevens, Heidi (2018-10-22). "Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia taps female power players to improve status of city's girls and women". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  21. Woelfel, Mariah (2019-02-05). "Young Chicago Activists Have A Plan: Take Over City Hall". WBEZ. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  22. The Chicago Crusader. "Activists aim to vote out Black aldermen after Van Dyke rulings | Gary/Chicago Crusader". Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  23. Brand New Council (2019-02-06). "Endorsed are the following candidates:". @ChicagoBrandNew. Retrieved 2019-06-21.
  24. Collins, Kina (2019-05-13). "Today, I announced that I am running for the #IL07 Congressional District seat! Please follow my new campaign account, @Kina4Congress for updates, and read all about my campaign at http://KinaForCongress.com ! #Kina4Congresshttps://twitter.com/Kina4Congress/status/1127906584766623744 …". @KinaCollins_. Retrieved 2019-06-19. External link in |title= (help)
  25. "Policy Platform". Kina Collins for Congress. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  26. Sheridan, Stacey (January 30, 2020). "Austin congressional hopeful nabs suburban endorsements". austinweeklynews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  27. "Endorsements". Kina Collins for Congress. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  28. Women's March Illinois (January 24, 2020). "Meet Women's March - Illinois supported candidate, Kina Collins, and let's help get a new powerhouse representative from Chicago to DC on March 17, 2020!". facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  29. "Northside Democracy for America". Northside Democracy for America. Archived from the original on 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
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