Margot Black

Margot Black
Black addressing a rally, April 2016
BornOctober 1978
NationalityAmerican
Alma materLewis & Clark College (BA)
University of Oregon (MS)
Occupations
  • Tenant rights advocate
  • past Director, Symbolic & Quantitative Resource Center, Lewis & Clark College
  • past college mathematics instructor
Known forCo-founder, Portland Tenants United

Margot Black (born 1978) is an American tenant rights organizer, activist, grass-roots lobbyist and former political candidate. She helped found and was co-chair of Portland Tenants United,[1] Portland's metro-wide tenant union focused on tenants' rights to secure, safe, affordable and equitable housing, tenant-union organizing, eviction prevention, and providing emergency assistance for renters navigating housing law.[2]

Black helped draft Portland’s Relocation Assistance ordinance passed in 2017,[3] served on Portland’s Rental Services Commission,[4] and advised on formulation of the Fair Access in Renting (FAIR) ordinance in 2019.[5]

Black was one of 18 candidates in the May 2020 primary election of Portland City Council. She ran for the seat held until December 2019 by the late city commissioner Nick Fish and ultimately won by Dan Ryan.[6][7]

  1. ^ Rachel Monahan, ″Margot Black Wants to Take On the Landlords and Portland City Hall,″ Willamette Week Dec 7, 2016 - Updated March 17, 2017
  2. ^ About Portland Tenants United
  3. ^ Alex Zielinski, ″Portland Renters Rights Advocate Margot Black is Running for City Council," Portland Mercury Jan 8, 2020
  4. ^ Portland Rental Services Commission, Meet Our Commissioners
  5. ^ Chloe Eudaly, "I am incredibly proud to share that FAIR just passed City Council!," Facebook June 19, 2019
  6. ^ Alex Zielinski, ″Portland Renters Rights Advocate Margot Black is Running for City Council," Portland Mercury Jan 8, 2020
  7. ^ Registry of Candidates - May 19, 2020 Primary Elections