Paperboy Love Prince, also known as Paperboy Prince of the Suburbs, (born 1992/1993) is an American artist, community activist and political candidate who resides in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Early life

Prince grew up in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

One of their grandfathers was a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

bishop, and both of their parents are devoutly religious. As a child, they worked as a

newspaper carrier A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ce ...

delivering ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. When Prince was 12, their mother won a contest which permitted her to bring them to have lunch with congressional representatives. Following that experience, Prince participated in youth government programs and eventually had internships with the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In college, Prince studied journalism and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

while also creating art and hosting entertainment events.

Political activities

Paperboy Love Prince started in politics by hosting concerts which provided

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

for attendees. While hosting these events Prince was also participating in protests and seeking to contact their elected representatives. Upon seeing how elected officials sometimes win by small margins, they became more intent on encouraging communities to vote as a way of advocating for themselves. Prince claimed that voter turnout for their party in their district has recently been as low as 4%, and that a slightly higher turnout could lead to major changes.

Poverty reduction Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...

is a key goal of Prince's political planning. Prince supports the

police abolition movement The police abolition movement is a political movement, mostly active in the United States, that advocates replacing policing with other systems of public safety. Police abolitionists believe that policing, as a system, is inherently flawed and c ...

. Prince hosts a community center called the Love Gallery on

Myrtle Avenue Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States. Route description Queens Myrtle Avenue has been a major thoroughfare since the early ...

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; East New York and the cemeteries of Highland Par ...

. In addition to being a place for community meetings, the Love Gallery is also a vintage clothing store, a food distribution center, and their political campaign headquarters.

Campaign for New York's 7th Congressional District

In 2020 Prince was a candidate in the primary for

New York's 7th congressional district New York's 7th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. It includes parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. Democrat Nydia Velázquez represents the district in Congre ...

competing against incumbent

Nydia Velázquez Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (born March 28, 1953) is a politician serving in the United States House of Representatives since 1993. A Democrat from New York, Velázquez chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus until January 3, 2011. Her ...

. Prince received 20% of the vote to their opponent's 80%. In Prince's campaign their

political platform A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order ...

included advocacy for

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

Medicare for all Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from p ...

, and spreading love. Some media portrayed Prince's campaign as a longshot. Even while doing so, commentators remarked that if elected Prince would be setting various precedents including being the first nonbinary congressperson. In preparation for the election, Prince overcame a challenge to their bid to appear on the ballot.

2021 New York City mayoral campaign

In December 2020, Prince registered as a candidate for

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

in the 2021 Democratic primary. If elected, Prince would have been the youngest mayor in the history of New York City. Prince's campaign manager was 13-year old student Theo Demel, who believes that homework is unconstitutional. The campaign's goal was to raise $2 million. Part of the fundraising strategy included

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

outside the Myrtle Avenue station in

. The campaign's major policy points included fighting

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and providing more housing for New York City residents. The campaign hosted weekly food distribution events, giving away food donated by churches to whoever happened to show up. In May 2021, Prince challenged their electoral competitor

Andrew Yang Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...

in both a basketball game and

rap battle Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...

Tompkins Square Park Tompkins Square Park is a public park in the Alphabet City, Manhattan, Alphabet City portion of East Village, Manhattan, East Village, Manhattan, New York City. The square-shaped park, bounded on the north by 10th Street (Manhattan), East 10th ...

. One of the criteria for joining the city's mayoral debates was fundraising a minimal amount of money. Prince was among the candidates who met the criteria to appear on the ballot, but did not meet the criteria to join the debates. While Prince was not inside the building to participate in mayoral debates, they were with the crowd outside, rallying attendees from a bus known as the "Love Tank". Prince's performance outside the debate included singing about affordable housing. A writer for ''

Harvard Political Review The ''Harvard Political Review'' is a quarterly, nonpartisan American magazine and website on politics and public policy founded in 1969 at Harvard University in Cambridge,Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It covers domestic and internatio ...

'' said that Prince's campaign could shift discussion about what sorts of political policies are acceptable to discuss and also shift the perception of the electability of non-white candidates. A writer for '' The Red Hook Star-Revue'' said that Prince was a candidate to take seriously. That paper also endorsed Prince for mayor.

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' showcased Prince's idea that police should reward people for doing good as an alternative to spotting violations. '' The City'' surveyed Prince on their political positions and published their responses. Prince received 0.4% of the vote and was not elected.

2022 campaigns

Following the 2021 election Prince announced intent to seek candidacy in the 2022 elections for 11 congressional districts and the New York governorship. They again got on the ballot for congress in NY district 7.

Music

By 2015 Paperboy the Prince was rapper and a center of attention among the fans at games of the basketball team

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

. They got recognition for their effort in organizing a music campaign to raise $20 million to bring DC-native basketball player

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

to the Wizards. At the 2016

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

, Prince spoke on behalf of street performers to reporters on the condition that Prince could talk out loud on

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

, and that they got a hug. Prince received death threats while performing music as Minister of Fun at an anti-Trump art production by

LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner is an artist trio consisting of American actor and artist Shia LaBeouf, Finnish artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö, and British artist Luke Turner. Their performance art explores connection, emotion, and collaboration across d ...

at the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...

in the days after

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's inauguration. In 2017 musician

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. In 2 ...

established

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Chaos & Glory Recordings, with Prince as the first artist signed to produce music.

Personal life

Prince is

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

and prefers the pronouns

they/them Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentence ...

or the

neopronoun Neopronouns are a category of neologistic English Third person (grammar), third-person personal pronouns beyond "he (pronoun), he", "she (pronoun), she", "singular they, they", "one (pronoun), one", and "it (pronoun), it". Neopronouns are preferr ...

s God/Goddess. They dress as "royalty" to draw attention to how politicians can hold power for longer than kings or queens. In an interview with fashion magazine '' V,'' Prince explained how freedom in fashion encourages freedom in thinking and welcoming of diversity. They often wear a

Game Boy Advance SP The Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), released in Japan on February 14, 2003, is a sixth-generation handheld game console developed, released, and marketed by Nintendo that served as an upgraded version of the original Game Boy Advance. The "SP" in ...

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

around their neck. Prince's role models include

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and

in the context of racial justice and

respectively.

Electoral history

References

Further consideration

* *

External links

* {{Authority control People from Bushwick, Brooklyn 21st-century American politicians American performance artists Non-binary artists 1990s births Living people Non-binary musicians Non-binary activists Candidates in the 2021 United States elections Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections