Explore African American Boston area politics in neighborhoods majority Black, Asian and Latino.
Black Boston Community Politics
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Hey! Scott Brown's vote has been certified by Governor Patrick's agency during Black History month. Now there is an ongoing conversation among Black folks in Massachusetts about Boston black politics and all voters who hire political leaders.
Seats on the powerful Massachusetts Governor's Council are open this year. A Black woman is mounting an effort to win one. (Connect) to get more details about the MGC.Join Basic Black TV - WGBH 2 online for conversations with Greater Boston's African American community about black issues. If you missed a television program you can watch it again online at BASISBLACK.ORG. Panelists reviewing Brown's Senate race and giving opinions about Patrick's newly started race for the Governor's seat again were: Phillip Martin, journalist, Peniel Joseph, professor of history, Tufts University, Rev. Hurmon Hamilton, Roxbury Presbyterian, and Robert Fortes, Jr., Fellow of the UMass Boston School of Management Emerging Leaders Program, on the Feb 4th 2010 show.selected show quotes: "..Scott Baker wants to be the next Governor using the Scott Brown campaign model.... African American Governor Deval Patrick has an uphill battle.... 'campaigning on hope is problematic for Deval.. he has good record, Patrick's chances are no worse than before!! .." Febuary 27th - Poll shows Governor Deval Patrick leads rivals | view details.
Deval Patrick seeks to become the first African American ever elected for the second time as the Governor of Massachusetts.
They were waving to Ted Kennedy when his funeral procession passed by and we were there. There's a story we could add about a guy who was standing there with his family. He told me he owned more parking lots in downtown Boston than any other during his career. Now in retirement and playing lots of golf, he was there to honor Senator Kennedy for his help in doing things for his family who were also in the crowd waiting for the procession to come by.
on another note...
Black Republicans in Massachusetts were 6% of the Massachusetts registered GOP voters when we researched it during then Senator Obama's race to the White House.
Big Shout Out to Black Massachusetts Republican Jack E. Robinson / web site who reportedly dropped about $450,000 of his own money into his 2009 campaign against Scott Brown during the special election for Massachusetts U.S. Senator and lost. Good luck next time Jack!
Jack has a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Brown University, a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Incoming from Tim Kaine @ democraticparty@democrats.org on February 11th, 2010. This widget produced by the Democratic Party will help you figure out how many years it will take to make a million dollars.
His e-mail included this graphic artwork of Mr. Micheal Stephen Steele - an American politician, serving since January 2009 as the first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee and here's an excerpt from Kaine's e-mail.
" ...The average American household makes $52,000 per year. Only 2% make more than $250,000 -- and millions are out of work in a recovering economy. But while arguing to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy last Thursday at the University of Arkansas, Steele let slip that he thinks a million is "not a lot." It's outrageous -- but sadly, not surprising.
Greed and excess on Wall Street nearly brought down our economy, health care costs are drowning families, but the GOP is fighting to protect big banks and block health reform while proposing more and more tax cuts for the rich" wrote Kaine. Don't like the graphic? Neither do we!
NOV 3rd, night of - the nerve of Boston area politics was captured this year, when editorial page authors of several neighborhood-focused newspapers told their readers to vote for two African Americans, and one Latino candidate for three of four Boston City Council At-large open seats. Elections are over, and the winners have emerged. An African-American women won the at-large seat in Boston for the first time ever. Close by in Newton, a Black Mayor was elected - the first popular-elected black mayor in Massachusetts history!
Courtesy of the National Museum of American History
Smithsonian photographers created this composite image of the Star-Spangled Banner in 2004 from 73 separate photographs. The flag's large size (30-by-34 feet) prevented photographers from capturing it in one image while conservators worked on it in the specially-built conservation lab.
OBAMA'S MESSAGE TO BOSTON AND BEYOND: 2008 pre-election
View an official City of Boston 2008 Financial Statement here.
Black Boston politics, and all government politics for that matter, is about the control and redistribution of fixed limited resources, such as cash paid by citizens and businesses as taxes or fees, and the land and natural resources held by the governing authority.
LABOR lined downtown streets to pay their respects to the Honorable Senator Edward Kennedy on August 27th at 4:15 p.m. His motorcade traveled the Big Dig highway tunnel system and surfaced near labor union members who assembled on Atlantic avenue. The group of cars rode past the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway where Kennedy's initial investment jump started the completion of the greenway parks.
In 1974, Bill Owens became the first African-American elected to the Massachusetts state Senate. Dianne Wilkerson was the first African American woman elected to the Massachusetts Senate. Running on the Democratic party ticket, she took office in 1993 and lost the 2008 Primary election by a bit over 200 votes to challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz.
The Honorable Edward Brooke, was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate when he was elected as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966. In 1866, the first African-American legislators in New England were elected.
And, Ralph Martin was the first African-American elected (1992 to 2002) Suffolk County (Boston) district attorney while Andrea J. Cabral was elected in 2004 when she became the first Black female Sheriff of Suffolk County.
Among the current Boston City Council officeholders are two African Americans: Charles Yancey, Mattapan and Chuck Turner represents the Roxbury district.
As of December, 2008 - this information about black elected officials is NOT a complete accounting of the African Americans who have been elected to public offices in Massachusetts. Its close! But, you should Dig Deeper!! to get more history.
You could start by considering the Boston Banner Newspaper archives or call to speak to someone at the Banner that knows. The Banner is Boston's oldest black media source for news and information in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we think?
The telephone number for the Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus may change from one political election season to another. That's because of fluctuating changes in the legislative body. The House and Senate leaders can reassign office locations and committee responsibilities.
The Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus [(photo) State Representative Gloria Fox, Vice-Chair, Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus 2/08 e-mail: Rep.GloriaFox@Hou.State.MA.US. ]
The MBLC is an association of Black Massachusetts State legislators who have pooled their political skills and experiences in order to facilitate the development and power of people of color throughout Massachusetts. This is accomplished by voter registration drives, newsletter circulation, press conferences, open forums and workshops, speaker services, support for community groups, and activities for non-elected members and youth.
A HISTORY SHORT ABOUT BOSTON BLACK POLITICS - Ward 9 was home to Laurence Banks, Boston’s first black city councilor. Shag Taylor's drugstore on Tremont Street was the headquarters of Democratic politics in the black community going back to the days of Mayor James Michael Curley, noted the Boston Banner newspaper in its 11/20/08 issue.
video file: Deval Patrick, Massachusetts Governor endorses Senator Barrack Obama for President of the United States
On WGBH PBS Channel 2 some time ago: a 1hr 52minute (real player video) fea. Deval Patrick, when he was a former US Assistant Civil Rights Attorney. Its about "William Lloyd Garrison" and the abolition of slavery and the black Boston community network long ago.
The Niagara Movement 1905-1909, established a civil rights movement and led to the founding of the NAACP. (view more)
Dial up the Boston NAACP at (617) 438-5816.
Dial up BCIC - Boston's Black Community Information Center at (617) 216-1705.
Bruce Marks - stands up for the "average Joes." He has been chosen 2007 BOSTONIAN OF THE YEAR by the Boston Globe newspaper.
Viewofficial Massachusetts State Election Results including: Candidates, Ballot Questions, Current Voter Statistical Reports: stats, stats, stats.
\\The Governor// is head of the executive branch and serves as chief administrative officer of the state and as commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts' military forces. His or her responsibilities include preparation of the annual budget, nomination of all judicial officers, the granting of pardons (with the approval of the governor's Council), appointments of the heads of most major state departments, and the acceptance or veto of each bill passed by the Legislature. Several Executive Offices have also been established, each headed by a Secretary appointed by the Governor, much like the president's Cabinet.
The Governor may recommend new policies for Massachusetts, new legislation, and changes in the administration of departments that conduct the government from day to day. He or she has the power to order out the National Guard to meet domestic emergencies, and is Massachusetts chief spokesman with the federal government.
Results (unofficial) of the 2006 Race for Massachusetts Governor were:
Democrat candidate Deval Patrick won with 1,230,065 votes.
Republican candidate Lt. Gov Kerry Healy received 779,807 votes.
Independent candidate Christy Mihos had 161,012 and Green Party candidate Grace Ross received 43,032 votes.
During the primary race for Governor, the state certified results were: Patrick received 452,229 votes; Gabrieli received 248,301, and Atty Gen Reilly received 211,031 votes.
Hey! Scott Brown's vote has been certified by Governor Patrick's agency during Black History month. Now there is an ongoing conversation among Black folks in Massachusetts about Boston black politics and all voters who hire political leaders.
Big Shout Out to Black Massachusetts Republican 
His e-mail included this graphic artwork of 
LABOR lined downtown streets to pay their respects to the Honorable Senator Edward Kennedy on August 27th at 4:15 p.m. His motorcade traveled the Big Dig highway tunnel system and surfaced near labor union members who assembled on Atlantic avenue. The group of cars rode past the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway where Kennedy's initial investment jump started the completion of the greenway parks.
In 1974, Bill Owens became the first African-American elected to the Massachusetts state Senate. Dianne Wilkerson was the first African American woman elected to the Massachusetts Senate. Running on the Democratic party ticket, she took office in 1993 and lost the 2008 Primary election by a bit over 200 votes to challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz.
The Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus
