Margaret Wheeler Shabazz has filed to run for the District 6 seat on the Wichita City Council. The district covers Riverside and much of north central Wichita.
First-term councilmember Maggie Ballard currently represents the district and is seeking reelection.
Shabazz, age 40, grew up in Wichita and is a third-generation activist. Her grandmother Margaret – whom she’s named after – and her mother Kathy Johnson, had Shabazz active in the community as a teenager. She became actively involved with Hope Street Youth Development, which encouraged youth to be leaders in the community.
“We had anger management classes that we went to schools and gave,” recalled Shabazz. “Because we wanted us to be better people and understand how to handle our anger … to not give your power away.”
The group was also responsible for getting the City of Wichita to pay for police officers to have business cards. The youth called them STOP cards.
“That was if you stopped a police officer, if you asked, they could have a card to give to you,” said Shabazz.
The cards were about more than reporting “problem” officers. They were also, “so you could have that relationship, or have someone to call on if you needed them.”
Candidate Platform
Shabazz, who is a homeowner and resides in Wichita’s Midtown area, says she’s running to improve safety in the community. Midtown is a great historic district, but she’s concerned it’s becoming overrun with homeless people, drug addicts and the mentally ill.
While she wouldn’t have supported the homeless center the city opened in the old Park Elementary, 1025 N. Main, she’s concerned that more people seem to be outside the center than inside and that the city isn’t doing enough to help those individuals, many of whom need more than just a place to stay.
She’s also concerned about the number of businesses closing along Broadway and the intrusion of homeless people off Broadway and deep into the community, where they can be found sleeping on porches, benches and the ground throughout the neighborhood.
Personal
Shabazz graduated from Bishop Carroll High School and attends Holy Savior Catholic Church. She’s a young widow. Her husband, who was in the military, died in his sleep less than a year after they were married. She has two daughters, ages 9 and 19.
Her passion is working with people, that’s why she began her career working in daycares and with the disabled. Wherever she’s been employed, Shabazz says she’s started at or near the bottom and worked her way up.
She currently works remotely for Vestas, a wind turbine company, where she trains people at 52 sites on the company’s processes.
The primary election is Aug. 5 and the general election is Nov. 4. The deadline to file to run is June 2.
