Chi A. Ossé (born March 18, 1998) is an American politician and activist from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

who serves as a member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

for the 36th district, based largely in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, and some of northern

Crown Heights Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard to the so ...

Early life and education

Ossé was born and raised to a

Haitian-American Haitian Americans (; ; ) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest population of Haitian citizens in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area. In addition, they have sizeable popu ...

family in

, where his family has lived for three generations. His father,

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

attorney and journalist Reggie Ossé–better known as

Combat Jack Reginald Joseph Ossé (July 8, 1969 – December 20, 2017), known professionally as Combat Jack, was a Haitian-American hip hop music attorney, executive, journalist, editor and podcaster. He was the former managing editor of ''The Source''. H ...

–died from cancer in 2017, when Ossé was 19. He was raised

Nichiren Buddhist Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period schools ...

. Ossé graduated from

Friends Seminary Friends Seminary is an independent K-12 school in Manhattan. The oldest continuously coeducational school in New York City, in recent years it has served approximately 800 students. The school's vision statement declares its purpose is "to prep ...

in 2016 and attended but did not graduate from

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

Career

Ossé worked for several years in the entertainment industry. In May 2020, amid nationwide protests over the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, Ossé became a prominent

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

organizer and co-founded the activist

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an e ...

Warriors in the Garden.

2021 City Council campaign

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...

2020, Ossé announced his 2021 campaign to succeed term-limited Councilman

Robert Cornegy Robert E. Cornegy Jr. (born September 24, 1965) is an American politician. He is a former New York City Council Member for the 36th district, representing Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights in Brooklyn. A Democrat, he was an unsucc ...

in the 36th district of the

. Ossé, who acknowledged that he knew little about city government before the protests of spring 2020, cited police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement as the impetus for his campaign, and charged that the City Council and Mayor

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

had not done enough to reshape policing in the city. With endorsements from the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois ...

and Congresswoman

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

's Courage to Change

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

, Ossé was seen as the furthest-left candidate in a field that also included district leader Henry Butler, local political operative Tahirah Moore, and pastor Robert Waterman. His campaign also found an unusual niche due to Ossé's youth and personal style, with many non-political publications interviewing Ossé and running profiles of his campaign. On election night on June 22, Ossé led the field with 37 percent of the vote; when

absentee ballot Absentee or The Absentee may refer to: * Absentee (band), a British band * The Absentee, a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1812 in ''Tales of Fashionable Life'' * ''The Absentee'' (1915 film), a 1915 American silent film directed by Christy ...

s and ranked-choice votes were counted, he defeated Butler 57-43%. His victory, and the size of his margin, was seen as a considerable upset, given his opponents' more traditional political backgrounds and endorsements. Ossé faced minimal opposition in the November general election, and won easily, becoming the council's youngest ever member.

Personal life

Ossé's father was Reginald Ossé, a Haitian-American hip hop music attorney, executive, journalist, editor and podcaster. His mother owns and operates The BAKERY on Bergen, a small business in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. His grandfather was Teddy Vann, a music producer who grew up in Brooklyn’s

Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

neighborhood and won a Grammy working with his longtime protege

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

. Ossé is openly

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

. He lives in

, and is a practicing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ossé, Chi 1998 births 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century New York (state) politicians African-American activists American democratic socialists American LGBTQ city council members American politicians of Chinese descent American politicians of Haitian descent Black Lives Matter people African-American LGBTQ people LGBTQ people from New York (state) Living people New York (state) Democrats New York (state) socialists People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn American queer men LGBTQ Buddhists American Nichiren Buddhists 21st-century American Buddhists

Early life and education

Career

2021 City Council campaign

Personal life

See also

References