Nekima Levy Pounds

Early life

Nekima Valdez Levy-Pounds was born on June 27, 1976, in Jackson, Mississippi, the eldest sister of five. She moved to South Central Los Angeles after spending the first eight years of her life in Mississippi, and at fourteen years old was accepted to attend the Brooks School of North Andover, Massachusetts, as a boarding student. She later went on to receive her BA from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. Levy-Pounds lived in Los Angeles until 2003 when she moved to Minnesota.

Professorship and early projects (2003–2014)

Levy-Pounds began teaching law as an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas (UST) in Minneapolis in 2003. In her research, she has focused on the War on Drugs, incarceration, mandatory sentencing, and sentencing guidelines, primarily as they affect women and children of color, but also young black men. In 2006, Levy-Pounds founded the Community Justice Project (CJP), a partnership between UST's School of Law and the Saint Paul chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The CJP allows law students interested in working with underserved communities to gain experience through academic writing, fora, and interaction with local governments and communities.

Levy-Pounds cofounded Brotherhood Inc., an organization dedicated to helping young African American men stay away from gang activity and prison. Using what Levy-Pounds described as "a proven holistic approach to community building that employs culturally sensitive social services, educational opportunities, and on-site employment", Brotherhood began by selling a blend of coffee, Brotherhood Brew, and currently has plans to open a coffee shop in Saint Paul. She chairs the Minnesota State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and Everybody In, a nonprofit with the goal of closing race-based employment gaps in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. As a writer, Levy-Pounds has been published in the Twin Cities Daily Planet, MinnPost, and the Star Tribune. She formerly preached at Minneapolis's First Covenant Church every other month.

Levy-Pounds has garnered several accolades including being named one of "50 Under 50" by Lawyers of Color, Minnesota Lawyer's Attorney of the Year in 2015, and receiving the Hennepin County Bar Association's Diversity Award.

Initial Black Lives Matter work (2014–2015)

In mid-2014, Levy-Pounds participated in the anti-police brutality protests in Ferguson, Missouri. In December 2014, she took part in a Black Lives Matter protest of police brutality at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. She and ten other protesters were charged by the City of Bloomington with disorderly conduct and trespass which carry a penalty of a fine up to $8,000 and a prison sentence of up to two years. Levy-Pounds characterized herself as "a defender of the law and a protector of the law [and] a protector of my people", and called the actions of the City of Bloomington "prosecutorial overreach and misuse of taxpayers' dollars." Restitution charges for $40,000 against the protesters were later withdrawn by the city. In November 2015, a Hennepin County judge dismissed the charges against Levy-Pounds and the ten others charged by Bloomington.

Minneapolis NAACP presidency (2015–2016)

Jerry McAfee served as president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP until 2015, at which point Levy-Pounds decided to run. She won the election unopposed on the ballot but faced criticism from McAfee who contended that she was too focused on issues of police brutality to the neglect of concerns such as crime perpetrated against African Americans by African Americans. Levy-Pounds stated that she hoped to increase youth engagement with the NAACP during her term with the organization. She has been critical of racial disparities in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region, citing them as some of the nation's worst.

In November 2015, following the shooting death of Jamar Clark at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, Levy-Pounds was involved in a human blockade of Interstate 94. Of the approximately 40 protesters, Levy-Pounds was among the first arrested for the action. MinnPost wrote that she served as a leader in the subsequent protests against Clark's killing. They highlighted Levy-Pounds's savvy in using social media as a tool to encourage local and national media to report on the death and demonstrations.

Levy-Pounds left her professorship with UST at the end of July 2016 to devote herself full-time to addressing issues of economic and racial justice. She announced in October of that year that she did not intend to seek a second term as president of the Minneapolis NAACP, but that she "plan[s] to have an even more visible presence in the community". As her successor, Levy-Pounds nominated Jason Sole, an activist and professor of criminal justice. He won the election and credited Levy-Pounds with leading the Minneapolis chapter of the organization in its support of BLM, describing Minneapolis's as "the only branch in the country to stand so closely with Black Lives Matter".

Mayoral bid (2016–present)

On November 15, 2016, a year after the death of Jamar Clark, Levy-Pounds announced her intention to run for mayor of Minneapolis in the city's 2017 election as a member of the DFL. The announcement was held outside Minneapolis's 4th Precinct police station, where protestors had demonstrated against Clark's killing for 18 days the year before. Levy-Pounds will face incumbent mayor Betsy Hodges, also a member of the DFL, and three other major candidates and at least one minor candidate. Larry Jacobs, a University of Minnesota political science professor, stated that he believed Levy-Pounds is a divisive candidate who "will have strong support in some parts of the city" and "intense opposition elsewhere".

Personal life

Levy-Pounds lived in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, until September 2015 when she moved to north Minneapolis. She is married and has five children, two of whom are adopted.

Selected publications