Braxton Winston, a Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist who was the star of a viral, anti-police brutality photo, was voted into the Charlotte, NC City Council on Tuesday.
“We’re excited. We feel like we ran the campaign that we set out to do,” Winston told WBTV. “We were very intentional about it from day one. We wanted to go to every part of Charlotte with a clear and consistent message of a more accessible, equitable and interconnected city.”
Clearly, Charlotte is also excited for Winston’s win, seeing as he got the second-highest number of votes during the city council elections.
Winston initially gained support from the Charlotte community because of his activism following the Keith Lamont Scott shooting. The Charlotte Observer reports that Winston’s push for justice following this shooting went viral because the publication “followed a tip.”
It’s very fortunate that the Charlotte Observer snapped the viral photo of Winston, shirtless with his fist clenched and raised, because now Winston is able to incorporate the BLM’s actions into the City of Charlotte.
“It’s all good to bring ‘new,’ but we have to create a continuum between the past, the present and to the future to know has worked and what hasn’t and build on it,” Winston told WBTV.
It’s outstanding to see that Winston is able to expand upon his activism in the BLM movement to gain a City Council seat. Now, Winston can bring about positive change that the Charlotte community deserves.