About Joshua Bristol
Joshua Bristol was born in 1983 to a single mother in the East Village, Manhattan. His father, whereabouts unknown, is a Guyanese national. He moved with his mother at two years old to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he was raised the eldest of three.
At some point Joshua developed a head tumor and went blind in his right eye. He was flown to New York City where it was taken out at New York Presbyterian in 1988.
Having gone through all that, Joshua returned to New Mexico where he had a few spots in the local newspaper and attended a prestigious private school, Santa Fe Preparatory School on a full scholarship.
Joshua's growth throughout childhood was slowed, stemming from the earlier tumor he had. He has lower levels of certain hormones including ones needed for growth and development.
These and other challenges led to parting ways with Santa Fe Prep after only one year, but Joshua would always remember the rigorous love for scholarship that was taught and embraced there.
In 1999 Joshua and his family moved to Alameda, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended Encinal High School there and went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy at San Jose State University in 2011.
As an adult, Joshua has sold books, tutored children in life skills and coursework, been a regional delegate for Bernie Sanders in Colorado in 2016, and attended pro Palestinian events in Brooklyn, NY. He has also worked with immigrant advocacy groups like the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Miami while also volunteering for the Bernie Sanders campaign there in 2020.
As a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Joshua is dedicated to praxis, study of socialist thinkers, and activism to bring those principles into the mainstream to the collective benefit of all.
What I Believe
⚕️Medicare for All
Joshua has always been a strong advocate for Medicare for all. We need to make sure that healthcare is treated like a human right for all and set up single payer healthcare in the US.
🏛️Justice for Immigrants
Joshua stands in solidarity with our brothers and sisters from other parts of the world. He will visit any detention centers to audit them for safety and work to close any that open, prevent new openings, and promises to fight hard to stop deportations and restore habeus corpus.
Joshua believes in a path to citizenship and decolonizing the border. Abolish ICE.
🇵🇸End the Occupation
The Palestinians must be liberated from colonial ingress. The formation of Israeli statehood at the UN is invalid and a new state of equal rights for all must be founded. Boycott, divest, and sanction to end the genocide.
💎Redistribution of Wealth
Joshua understands that the billionaires have gotten out of control. He supports aims to modify the tax code to 70 percent marginal tax rate in the district, and desires reforms to capital gains and inheritance taxes.
Joshua supports a 100% tax on earnings or valuations greater than one billion dollars. Society has need for that money!
Joshua will seek to prevent property owners from leaving their properties empty and will work to abolish homelessness. He supports efforts to institute and expand rent controls.
And of course get money out of politics NOW!
🌿Green New Deal
Global warming is not going anywhere and it is manmade. We have the tools to make a difference, but we must act now.
Joshua also understands that climate change is linked with colonization, and is aware of the needs of Native American tribes and vows to support them.
💪🏾Workers Rights and Unionization
Joshua supports a four day work week, minimum wage increases, and workplace unionization. He also will engage the gig economy to close contractor/employee loopholes. He will support legislation to require standardized rest breaks across industries.
Joshua will empower unions and seek to impose penalties on businesses that are hostile to unionization. He will work to make unionization efforts easier and simpler for organizers.
🫱🏽🫲🏻Suggest an Issue
Joshua is interested in many different topics on the cutting edge of science, technology, morality, and politics. He is looking closely at guaranteed basic income and other methods of bringing awareness to the movement that may be trending.
As a feminist, Joshua will always defend and support abortion access.
It will take all of us, and Joshua values your expertise!