Who is Boogie Rose?

Boogie Rose is carrying on her family’s legacy of community activism in District 2 with the clarity and urgency of what present-day Philadelphians need and deserve. Born and raised in Point Breeze, Boogie watched her uncle Terry Carpenter, her cousin/twin Chris Cotton, and her father Moses Cotton fight for what they believed in and didn’t take no stuff while they did it!

As a 33-year-old, queer, Black Philadelphia School District teacher and spoken word artist Boogie has lived through the best and the worst– the love and the despair– of this city. These experiences are what drives her to run for office.

Boogie has felt the horror of Philly’s school system when she was fighting to keep Smith School open in 2014 with dozens of other District 2 residents who knew how vital community schools were and how much development for the wealthy was hurting neighborhoods. She’s also felt the hope and joy of being a school teacher and initiating after-school programs to offer guidance to all youth: especially those typically viewed as troublesome and those who are already on track to rise as scholars. Boog’s mantra is “don’t lower expectations for our youth, set high but realistic expectations and encourage them to meet or supersede them”. With that mantra in place the “Revolutionary Juniors” (Rjs) after school program was birthed.

Boogie has also felt the outrage of a District that is tired of being taken from. Whether it is a home, a lot, a garden, or a life; district 2 has had enough of taking losses. To add to this outrage, Boogie was infuriated when a young woman’s body was found in a vacant lot on her block in the summer of 2020 while children from the neighborhood, from the schools she taught at, from her mentoring programs, looked on to the police scene. It was at the self-actualizing moment that Boogie knew she had to turn that anger into power, and turn that lot into something more. She knew she wanted to help her neighbor by cleaning up that lot and she had no idea what that simple act of kindness would lead to. She felt the power of putting out a call for help and getting back a beautiful response to the treacherous murder. District 2 stood up and stood out, social media influencers, and other organizations, and folks, also came forward to support her and her block in helping found the Community Healing Garden on that same lot where they turned tragedy into triumph. For over a year, the garden was a site of teaching children how to grow vegetables, community workshops on different topics, and a food pantry and free flea market. The CHG was able to successfully feed at least 1,000 families a month and able to provide various housing appliances and needs.

For 33 years living & organizing in Philadelphia, Boogie Rose’s love for people has grown alongside her awareness of how all these issues– housing, gun violence, youth programs, mental health services, environmental justice– could have much different outcomes if District 2 had a City Council representative who used their power on behalf of all South & Southwest residents, not just those who can “afford” to have a voice or who are part of some exclusive inner circle.

The thing is: it’s not that complicated. Boogie is running a simple campaign that will commit to “transparency: no games, no gimmicks, no cliques, just love” which will serve every resident of District 2. Under democratic leadership, people should not have to accept evictions, air pollution, violence, or poverty as “just the way it is.” People should have clear evidence of how a representative is gathering priorities from constituents and reporting on progress, and that is how Boogie has begun building her policy platform and how she will legislate when you elect her. Click here to read more about Boogie’s policy platform and how she will stay accountable to residents.

Boogie Rose is running a simple campaign that will commit to: