Feel empowerment of women of color
Andrea Campbell’s expected rise to the presidency of the City Council in January adds to a spectacular and historic showing in electoral politics for African-American women.
Amid the lasting euphoria of so many women of color elected to municipal of- fices this election, women are looking to the next steps to build, broaden and solidify their power. Many are thinking ahead and revving up for the next challenges locally, statewide and nationally. 2018 may indeed usher in the year of African-American women’s empowerment, and with it, women’s empowerment as a whole.
It is why there is particular excitement about the news that Campbell has the votes to follow Michelle Wu, herself a pioneer as the first Asian-American and woman of color to serve as council president.
While some may equate the post to “inside baseball” because the president is elected among their colleagues, it is most definitely a worthy accomplishment in a city and state that still has many milestones to make and barriers to break for women, African-Americans and people of color.
In Cambridge, there is much encouragement for the venerable E. Denise Simmons, who currently serves as mayor and who resoundingly topped the ticket this past election to take the reins again at her city hall for an unprecedented third term. Many would agree that each of her two stints as mayor has been among the most productive for the city.
The fact that Campbell has unanimous support among her peers speaks volumes for the kind of president it is expected she will be. Resonating even louder are the litany of tough and entrenched challenges she plans to take on, including income equality and affordable housing. She and her family have faced these and other issues growing up black in Boston, particularly around public safety. Her twin brother died while in custody and she serves on the council’s Public Safety Committee.
As a millennial and a new mom, she is expected to view things from a fresh and different lens and to better structure the council to more cohesively engage in problem-solving measures that stress broadening opportunity and inclusion. It may not fit neatly under the working committees that now exist, but it surely should be a goal of the council as a whole. Everyone representing every neighborhood in the city should want to work for a better Boston that works for everyone.