Black Mayors: Changemakers in America's Urban Sphere

Sylvester Turner (Houston); Lori Lightfoot (former mayor Chicago); Eric Adams (New York City) and Karen Bass (Los Angeles)

Black mayors have played a transformational role in American politics. From the moments of their earlier ascendancy in the 1960's through the 1980's, Black Mayors, in what would come to be classified as "Chocolate Cities, have played a pivotal role in the nation's political history. A list of the nation's earliest Black mayors follows: Cleveland,Ohio (Carl Stokes, 1968); Gary Indiana (Richard Hatcher, 1972); Atlanta, Georgia (Maynard Jackson, 1973); Los Angeles (Tom Bradley, 1973); Chicago, Illinois (Harold Washington, 1983) and Baltimore, Maryland (Clarence DuBurns, 1985--unelected; Kurt Schmoke, 1986--elected); New York City (David Dinkins, 1990). Today, 14 of the nation's 50 most populus cities have Black mayors. Below please find an informational blog on their work and national impact.

General information

African American Mayors Association https://www.ourmayors.org/Home

Forum with Mayors of largest cities https://www.c-span.org/video/?527566-2/large-city-mayors-speak-african-american-mayors-association-conference

Meeting with President Biden https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/21/readout-of-white-house-meeting-with-the-african-american-mayors-association/

Wiki comprehensive list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_African-American_mayors

Current survey http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/black-american-mayors.html

Four largest cities https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/us/black-mayors-large-cities-karen-bass-reaj/index.html

Black Mayors with Degree in Black Studies

London Breed, San Francisco https://www.papermag.com/san-francisco-black-mayor#rebelltitem1

Marc H. Morial…….Former Mayor of New Orleans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Morial https://soba.iamempowered.com/marc-h-morial-0

Karen Freeman-Wilson…….Mayor of Gary, Indiana Bruce Harris…….Republican mayor of Chatham Borough, New Jersey, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/what-can-i-do-black-studies-major-five-hundred-answers-provided-robert-fikes-jr/

Key Mayors

Pierre Caliste Landry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Caliste_Landry https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/landry-pierre-caliste-1841-1921/

Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio https://www.nps.gov/people/carl-b-stokes.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Stokes https://archive.org/details/foia_Stokes_Carl-HQ-1

Richard Hatcher, Gary, Indiana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_G._Hatcher https://www.c-span.org/person/?3059/RichardHatcher

Coleman Young https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Young https://www.c-span.org/person/?2471/ColemanAYoung

Harold Washington, Chicago, Illinois http://eblackchicago.org/HAROLD/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Washington

Chokwe Lumumba, Jackson, MIssissippi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chokwe_Lumumba https://jacobin.com/2014/06/free-the-land/

Ras Baraka, Newark NJ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Baraka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz6TA8sws5A

Brandon Johnson, Chicago Illinois https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Johnson https://www.c-span.org/person/?73215/BrandonJohnson