Cat Brooks is an American activist, playwright, poet and theater artist. She was a mayoral candidate in Oakland's 2018 election.
Brooks received her bachelor's degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied theater.[2]
After graduating, she began her acting studying at the National Royal Theater Studio in London, before moving to Los Angeles and working at Creative Artists Agency. In 2002, Brooks joined the nonprofit organization Community Coalition, where she focused on issues of education and racial justice.[1]
After the shooting of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer, Brooks became active in organizing against police violence.[1] She co-founded the Anti Police-Terror Project and served as the executive director for the Bay Area National Lawyers Guild.[3] She also became an organizer for the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2015, Brooks was arrested protesting Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's ban on night-time marches on public roadways.[1][4]
In 2018, Brooks was a candidate for mayor of Oakland, running against the incumbent, Libby Schaaf.[5] Her campaign involved collaborative assembly meetings intended to gather public feedback on local policies. She endorsed repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.[4] After taking a break for the duration of her unsuccessful mayoral campaign, Brooks resumed her job as co-host of the two-hour weekday morning program UpFront on Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM in Berkeley.[5] Her segment subsequently transitioned into the one-hour program Law And Disorder.
Her one-woman show Tasha is loosely based on Natasha McKenna, who was tasered to death in police custody.[6]
Brooks was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to a black father and a white mother. Brooks's mother was an anti-nuclear activist who took her to protests as a child.[1]
She lives in West Oakland.[2]
