A positive agenda for Black Boston

From 2000 to 2020, Boston has grown more diverse, more prosperous, and more global.  Our many unique neighborhoods and numerous ethnics groups come together to form what I believe to be the most beautiful tapestry of diversity in our nation.  This tapestry truly embodies the phrase E pluribus unum—Out of many, one. 

But Black Bostonians—particularly the Descendants of American slavery—are the only racial group whose numbers have declined, both in raw population and in share of the city’s residents. When the current administration says "Welcome Home, Boston" this call for inclusion in housing has failed to reach the ears of Black Boston.  The data from the U.S. Census and our own BPDA (or whatever we're calling it now) show that year over year Black people are being violently ripped from the beautiful tapestry that is Boston.

This isn’t a mystery. It’s not a coincidence. It is the product of policy. From redlining to exclusionary zoning, from underfunded schools to the denial of generational wealth through discriminatory home loan practices, Boston has chosen—through law, ordinance, and budget—to leave Black people behind. As your At-Large City Councilor, I will fight to reverse this. Not symbolically, not rhetorically, but materially.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Jones v. Mayer, held that Congress—and by extension local governments—are constitutionally empowered to eliminate the “badges and incidents of slavery.” The Court ruled that the Thirteenth Amendment does not merely prohibit slavery itself, but gives lawmakers the authority to legislate against its lasting legacies, including but not limited to discrimination in housing, employment, and access to capital and opportunity for Descendants of slavery.  That ruling is not just an abstraction. It is a constitutional mandate that Boston has failed to fulfill. It is the legal and moral foundation for any serious agenda to address this and other injustices visited upon historically marginalized groups.

"Here to listen. Here to serve." That’s not just a slogan. It’s a pledge. And listening to Boston means listening to ALL its residents, especially those who have intentionally been left behind through policy.  No matter what President Trump or the extreme right-wing says about DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), the Descendant community has earned equity and inclusion through centuries of labor, resistance, and survival. I will fight to make that equity and inclusion a reality in the everyday lives of Black Bostonians—and for all marginalized communities across this beloved city.  The Constitution says I can, Black Boston and all who love justice demand that I must, so I will.

More to come.