--- description: DeRay Mckesson will be the first from the movement to run for prominent elected office title: Black Lives Matter Activist Running for Baltimore Mayor Wants 'Transformative Change' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932dba848e54caa7/69887c210b72e331b76e7faf/deray-mckesson-run-baltimore-mayor.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [elections](/tag/elections/) ## elections Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Black Lives Matter Activist Promises 'Transformative Change' for Baltimore by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2016 11:42 PM CUT  DeRay Mckesson speaks at the Nov. 2015 GLAAD Gala in San Francisco. DeRay Mckesson speaks at the Nov. 2015 GLAAD Gala in San Francisco.Kimberly White—Getty Images by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2016 11:42 PM CUT A prominent Black Lives Matter activist who announced he was [running for mayor of Baltimore](http://time.com/4207736/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-mayor-baltimore/ "undefined") says he will soon roll out an “aggressively innovative” platform that will focus on issues of criminal justice and policing. DeRay Mckesson, who organized Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., following police-related deaths of black men involving white officers, filed to run for mayor of Baltimore Wednesday, becoming the first from the movement to make a serious run at prominent elected office. Mckesson told TIME that he’ll largely focus on issues pursued by the Black Lives Matter movement and believes the work he has been involved in over the past 16 months has been “focused on creating environments where people can thrive.” “We know the traditional pathways to politics have never led to the transformative change we deserve,” Mckesson said, adding that he believes Baltimore voters are looking for something different in this year’s mayoral race. On Thursday, Mckesson wrote an article for [Medium](https://medium.com/@deray/i-am-running-for-mayor-of-baltimore-34b4e214d582#.obqdug2x5 "undefined") describing himself as a “non-traditional candidate” but said he was not a “silver bullet for the challenges of our city.” **Read more:** [_TIME Person of the Year Runner-up: Black Lives Matter Activists_](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-black-lives-matter/ "undefined") But Mckesson faces a large and unwieldy field of seasoned candidates in the Democratic primary, including former mayor Sheila Dixon, who has been leading in the polls, as well as Councilman Nick Mosby, who represents the neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested last year, and David Warnock, a Baltimore venture capitalist who has put in almost $1 million of his own money into the campaign. “It’s a very competitive, fractured primary,” John Willis, a University of Baltimore public-affairs professor says. “Mckesson is starting way behind in terms of resources.” The 30-year-old is the last of 13 candidates to enter the primary, which is wide open after Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced in September she would not seek re-election. Rawlings-Blake was widely criticized for not being able to contain violence throughout the city during the riots surrounding the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in police custody last spring. The mayor eventually requested that the National Guard be sent in to restore calm. **Read more:**[ _Mayors Face Push From Black Lives Matter at Annual Meeting_](http://time.com/4187133/mayors-face-push-from-black-lives-matter-at-annual-meeting/ "undefined") Mckesson was born in Baltimore but worked as a public-schools administrator in Minneapolis until he moved to St. Louis following the riots in Ferguson, Mo., over the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager who was shot by white police officer Darren Wilson. Mckesson was active in protests in Baltimore over Gray’s death and has become a vocal activist online, amassing a [Twitter](https://twitter.com/deray "undefined") following of almost 300,000 people. In a [November poll](http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-sheila-dixon-leads-mayoral-race-in-poll-results-htmlstory.html "undefined") conducted by the Baltimore _Sun_ and the University of Baltimore, Dixon was ahead with 24%, followed by Maryland State Senator Catherine Pugh at 13%, Councilman Carl Stokes at 11% and Councilman Mosby with 10%. The poll also shows 26% undecided. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4208730/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-baltimore-mayor-elections/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4208730/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-baltimore-mayor-elections/"},"headline":"Black Lives Matter Activist Promises 'Transformative Change' for Baltimore","datePublished":"2016-02-04T23:42:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:47:19.122Z","description":"DeRay Mckesson, running for mayor of Baltimore, will be the first from the movement to seek elected office","url":"https://time.com/4208730/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-baltimore-mayor-elections/","keywords":["elections","Crime","police","Race","baltimore","Ferguson topic","Michael Brown","freddie gray"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932dba848e54caa7/69887c210b72e331b76e7faf/deray-mckesson-run-baltimore-mayor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt932dba848e54caa7/69887c210b72e331b76e7faf/deray-mckesson-run-baltimore-mayor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"deray mckesson run baltimore mayor","caption":"deray mckesson run baltimore mayor","creditText":"Kimberly White—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/elections/","name":"elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4208730/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-baltimore-mayor-elections/","name":"Black Lives Matter Activist Promises 'Transformative Change' for Baltimore"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Black Lives Matter Co-Founder: No Endorsement For 2016","description":"Alicia Garza told the Associated Press Black Lives Matter will continue protesting and advocating for social issues rather than endorse a 2016 presidential candidate.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gsYoy8U6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-19T17:05:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gsYoy8U6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4208730/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-baltimore-mayor-elections/","duration":"PT1M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4208730/deray-mckesson-black-lives-matter-baltimore-mayor-elections/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```