This nonbinary rapper, activist and former paperboy is running for mayor of New York City. Brut spent a day with Paperboy Prince, whose platform is based on community activism and love.
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00:00It's our time!
00:08We're out here spreading love.
00:10This paperboy is going to win anyway.
00:12Paper, yeah.
00:18It's our time.
00:20Welcome to the paperboyprints.com
00:22love gallery
00:24where we spread love.
00:30Listen, we're outside.
00:40Always have people hanging out,
00:42having a good time, meeting each other,
00:44new friends,
00:46giving away stuff to the community.
00:48A lot of stuff happens out here.
01:00This right here is our community fridge
01:10where people can get free food
01:12at any time. Folks drop off
01:14daily. For example,
01:16go in,
01:18grab something.
01:20Nice.
01:22I'm actually pretty hungry too.
01:26Antero.
01:30Not bad.
01:32This right here is our tiny house
01:34where we're giving
01:36free emergency housing
01:38to anyone who needs it.
01:40It's completely solar powered.
01:42It's connected to a lithium battery
01:44so you can charge your phone,
01:46you can charge your laptop.
01:48You got lights in there
01:50and a battery powered fan as well.
01:52It can fit someone up to 6'5".
01:54I have a little setup here
01:56where I sometimes record some music
01:58with ideas,
02:00recording podcasts.
02:20Most people in our community
02:22don't know when voting day is.
02:24But they listen to rap music.
02:26They listen to rock music.
02:36We're right here in the
02:38Love Gallery.
02:40There's some shopping,
02:42some great clothes
02:44from local designers,
02:46stylists.
02:48We've got some great fashions
02:50that
02:52make it a fun time
02:54and bring people together
02:56because this community loves
02:58fashion and style.
03:00The people in my community that I
03:02represent oftentimes dress
03:04a lot like me or they identify
03:06with people that dress like me
03:08or they like to have fun.
03:10We want to do away with
03:12the respectability politics of saying
03:14that, hey, if you're a mom
03:16and you might have a little throw up
03:18from your baby on you
03:20that you can't be a representative in your community.
03:24It's not just
03:26housing that makes you happy.
03:28It's not just healthcare and other things that are on our platform.
03:30It's love.
03:32Depression at an all-time high.
03:34Marriages divorcing at
03:36alarming rates. Friendships.
03:38People are struggling to make friends.
03:40Right now, we need to focus on love
03:42to bring people back.
03:54I looked
03:56at the other candidates running
03:58and I was like, whoa, our vision
04:00isn't being represented. The people
04:02aren't truly being represented.
04:04Yeah, it's different names, but they're all
04:06one in the same. We need a new
04:08vision, a new voice
04:10that's actually going to wake people up
04:12and get them excited. So I was like, I want
04:14to get people excited. I want to get them hyped.
04:16We're about to win!
04:18Over your head.
04:20Over your head like this.
04:22Over your head like this.
04:24Giving out hugs and kisses.
04:26I put in love, I don't care if you like it.
04:28They see my style, they gonna put it back.
04:40A lot of the issues and a lot of the things
04:42that we value most in society
04:44sound crazy at one point.
04:46Abolishing slavery sounded crazy
04:48at one point. Giving women the right to vote
04:50sounded crazy at one point, but that doesn't
04:52mean you shouldn't fight for it.
04:54Right now we're heading to the Love Tank.
04:56One of my favorite
04:58rides in the whole city. It's better than a
05:00limo, better than an Uber.
05:02We have a love tank.
05:04The same way that a military
05:06has a tank to do what
05:08militaries do, Paperboy,
05:10Love Prince, and the Love Gallery have a
05:12love tank to do what people
05:14that spread love do, and that's spread love.
05:16It's the first ever smoke out.
05:18Post-legalization
05:20on city hall,
05:22on government property, no permit.
05:24And it's for our
05:26campaign. We're having a smoke out
05:28where we're going to give away
05:30free weed, we're going to
05:32allow those who are of age and want to
05:34to smoke weed and others to stand
05:36with us in solidarity to fight for
05:38marijuana justice in New York City.
05:40The city just legalized
05:42marijuana, but they did it in a way
05:44that still leaves behind
05:46the very people
05:48and communities that were already torn
05:50apart by the war on drugs.
05:52Am I right? Am I right?
05:54Let's win this! Let's win this!
05:56Yeah! Yeah, let's make a change!
05:58Yeah, we're turning on the air conditioning.
06:00Woo!
06:02Oh, now you want to clap.
06:10I just want to spread love to y'all. I want to smoke with y'all.
06:12I've got so many friends locked up
06:14over lesbian events.
06:16Lives thrown away. College
06:18careers gone.
06:20We gotta fight that right now for love.
06:24Are y'all ready to smoke for love?
06:26We've never
06:28actually taken love seriously as a concept.
06:30It's always seen as this fairy tale
06:32thing that's, you know,
06:34for a certain place at a certain time,
06:36but it's for every place at every
06:38time.
06:44Yeah.
06:58Yeah.
07:00Yeah.