When Walker ran and won a city councilor seat in a heavy-Democratic city, she broke the norm of establishment politics.
In an interview with Cville Tomorrow, she said, “For me, being an independent sets a clear tone to the establishment of Charlottesville that we need to change things.”
The shift in electoral politics shows a growing sentiment rejecting people and institutions that buffer disparities. As well, it shows an undertone of a black political power that has historically been kept out of establishment politics.
Walker, who has a non-traditional English name, and a name centered in a black naming aesthetic that started in the late 1960s until the 1980s in which parents selected African, Arabic or created names for their children.
As well, Walker’s colors for her campaign were red, black and green, mocking African flags, most notably that of Kenya. As well, the color scheme is that of the American, African liberation flag used by black power activists and nationalists.
Charlottesville cannot get any more revolutionary.
