Conrad Blackburn smiling with glasses in a suit and red tie standing outdoors in front of a brownstone building with stairs, bushes, and yellow autumn trees.

Hi, I’m 

Conrad

I am a Public Defender, a Labor Organizer, and proud Democratic Socialist running to represent Harlem in the State Assembly. 

I grew up in the projects. Cops pressed me and harassed me just for being a young Black man. I know what it’s like to not have healthcare, to have my lights shut off, to worry about how my family will make ends meet. I know what it’s like to be wrongfully arrested just for walking down the street. I know what it means to have to hustle to survive.

I became a Public Defender to give us poor folks the same type of representation that rich people can just buy. I've stood with and defended people who have suffered under state violence - and won battles people thought were lost causes. I’ve worked at the State and City level to write and change our criminal justice laws, including Local Law 42 which ended solitary confinement in New York City jails. When Mayor Adams refused to implement it, I organized the City Council to sue him - and we won. 

When my coworkers and I realized we could barely afford to stay in Harlem between rising rent, student loans, and low wages, we decided to form a union. We built power with our colleagues to win the strongest protections in a public defenders office anywhere in the city. I serve on the executive board of my union as the black caucus representative. 

My experience as a union organizer has taught me about building collective power to build a bully pulpit against the forces that fracture us. I've also learned that no matter our differences, we are all part of the same class, when we consider the undeserved power that billionaires and corporations wield -  we are much stronger together. 

The people of Harlem have always created our culture. The power has always been with the people. It's time that political elite and corporate interests learn that we may not run Harlem, but we make Harlem run. It's time for Harlem's working class to come together and take Harlem back. We must ensure that we build an affordable, sustainable Harlem, where our neighbors can afford rent, healthcare, childcare — a Harlem where we can live with dignity. It's time for the Harlem Revival.

A smiling man with glasses, wearing a black suit, white hoodie, and white sneakers, sitting on brown stone steps outside a brown building with large windows. There's a yellow shrub and a white-flowered plant beside him, with some fallen autumn leaves on the steps.
A group of protesters marching outdoors, with some holding signs and wearing red shirts. A woman in the front holds a large blue sign with the acronym 'UAW' and a slogan around it. People are scattered, some wearing masks, and there are trees and a building in the background.
A man in graduation attire standing next to white columns inside a building, smiling, wearing a black cap and gown with a colorful stole and sash indicating he is part of the 2018 class of a Western academic fraternity.