Mandela, Massachusetts

Last updated

Mandela County, Massachusetts
Proposed City
Mandela, Massachusetts
Interactive map outlining the Boston precincts that would have formed Mandela, Massachusetts in the 1986 and 1988 ballot question language.
Relief map of USA Massachusetts.png
Red pog.svg
Mandela
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 42°21′29″N71°03′49″W / 42.35806°N 71.06361°W / 42.35806; -71.06361
Country Flag of the United States.svg United States
State Flag of Massachusetts.svg  Massachusetts
County Suffolk
Region New England
A map of Boston, Massachusetts, USA highlighting in blue the precincts that would have been included in the proposed new city of Mandela, Massachusetts. Mandela precincts.svg
A map of Boston, Massachusetts, USA highlighting in blue the precincts that would have been included in the proposed new city of Mandela, Massachusetts.

Mandela was a proposed city that would have been formed as a result of some districts seceding from Boston, Massachusetts. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The districts, including parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and the South End, were populated mainly by African-Americans and Latinos, and the movement was driven by Black community leaders. The name was inspired by South African anti-Apartheid activist and political prisoner, later President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. [4]

The proposal was defeated in 1986 [5] and again in 1988. [6]

Background and impetus

Activists gathered in the summer of 1984 to discuss remedies to the imbalance of power they perceived between communities within the greater city of Boston, as it had expanded through annexations in the 19th century. Leaders spoke of the relationship between Black residents and City Hall as that of a "colony," in an era when apartheid in the Republic of South Africa, notions of community control were under discussion, and a decade after the upheavals created in Boston by efforts at school desegregation and busing.

Referendums in 1986

The proposal to create Mandela sought to carve out a new, 12-square-mile city in the heart of Boston, which would comprise about 22 percent of Boston's 600,000 population, including most of its black residents.

The Greater Roxbury Incorporation Project (GRIP) were the sponsors of the Mandela initiative; the co-leaders of the GRIP campaign were journalist and filmmaker Andrew Philemon Jones and architect Curtis Davis. Mel King was also a proponent, and ran in 1983 as mayoral candidate against then city council member, Raymond Flynn. [7]

Other community-based organizations in Boston doing work around local Black and Brown residents' land control included the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) and Greater Roxbury Neighborhood Authority (GRNA).

Jones said that Black neighborhoods had "a colonial relationship with the city of Boston" because they were not given adequate public funds. Opponents, including some of Boston's black ministers, Roxbury state representative Thomas Finneran and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, claimed the new municipality would undermine gains and create a community with annual deficit of $135 million. [8]

A non-binding referendum question about succession appeared on the ballot in 1986, on November 4. Nearly 50,000 people voted in the referendum. [9] The proposal failed, with 73 percent voting against it. The measure did not win in any precinct, and fared worst in the predominantly Black neighborhoods.

1988 referendum and beyond

The plan was put back on the ballot in 1988, when it was also defeated. [9] In 1989, Jones proposed a longer-range commission that would study the impacts of turning a neighborhood into an independent city. [10]

In 2017, Epicenter Community held a panel discussion about the movement. [7]

Referendum results

State Legislative District1986 Referendum [11] 1988 Referendum [6]
YESNOTOTAL % YESYESNOTOTAL % YES
Third Suffolk1,2803,6244,90426.1%
Fifth Suffolk1,0273,3224,34923.6%1,2312,5293,76032.7%
Sixth Suffolk6841,9622,64625.9%1,6253,3504,97532.7%
Seventh Suffolk1,4463,6915,13728.1%2,1583,0215,17941.7%
Ninth Suffolk1,3483,8415,18926.0%2,4463,5405,98640.9%
Twelfth Suffolk1,4603,8195,27927.7%2,2114,0276,23835.4%
Thirteenth Suffolk1,0553,3014,35624.2%1,9714,7816,75229.2%
Fourteenth Suffolk1,5854,3715,95626.6%
Fifteenth Suffolk1,0344,0765,11020.2%
Seventeenth Suffolk1,1913,2664,45726.7%
TOTAL12,11035,27347,38325.6%11,64221,24832,89035.4%

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dedham, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Dedham is a town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roxbury, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Massachusetts, United States

Roxbury is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South End, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts

The South End is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States which is bordered by Back Bay, Chinatown, and Roxbury. It is distinguished from other neighborhoods by its Victorian-style houses and the parks in and around the area. The South End is the largest intact Victorian row-house district in the country, covering over 300 acres (120 ha). It has eleven residential parks. In 1973, the South End was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Much of the neighborhood was originally marshlands in Boston's South Bay. After it was filled in, construction began on January 7, 1849.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorchester, Boston</span> Neighborhood of Boston in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States

Dorchester is a neighborhood comprising more than 6 square miles (16 km2) in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, Dorset, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This dissolved municipality, Boston's largest neighborhood by far, is often divided by city planners in order to create two planning areas roughly equivalent in size and population to other Boston neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roxbury Latin School</span> Private, boys, day, college-prep school in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, United States

The Roxbury Latin School is a private, college-preparatory, all-boys day school located in West Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1645 by Puritan missionary John Eliot, Roxbury Latin bills itself as the oldest boys' school in North America and the oldest school in continuous existence in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neighborhoods in Boston</span>

Boston's diverse neighborhoods serve as a political and cultural organizing mechanism. The City of Boston's Office of Neighborhood Services has designated 23 Neighborhoods in the city:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maura Hennigan</span> American politician

Maura A. Hennigan is an American politician who currently serves as the Clerk Magistrate of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Superior Court Criminal/Business Division. She is a former member of the Boston City Council and was a mayoral candidate in 2005. From 1987 to 1993, she was known as Maura Hennigan Casey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melnea Cass</span> American social activist

Melnea Agnes Cass was an American community and civil rights activist. She was deeply involved in many community projects and volunteer groups in the South End and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston and helped found the Boston local of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. She was active in the fight to desegregate Boston public schools, as a board member and as president of the Boston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a young woman, Cass also assisted women with voter registration after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. She was affectionately known as the "First Lady of Roxbury."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Rushing</span> American politician

Byron Rushing is an American politician who represented the Ninth Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1983 to 2019. He represented the South End neighborhood of Boston. A Democrat, he was first elected in 1982, before losing his 2018 bid for reelection to Jon Santiago in the Democratic primary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roxbury Community College</span> Public college in Boston, Massachusetts, US

Roxbury Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. RCC offers associate degrees in arts, and sciences, as well as certificates. RCC has transfer agreements with Curry College, Northeastern University, Emerson College, Lesley University, and other four-year schools. RCC credits transfer to all public colleges and universities in Massachusetts through the MassTransfer Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nubian Square</span> Commercial center in Roxbury, Boston, US

Nubian Square is the primary commercial center of the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located at the intersection of Dudley Street and Washington Street. It has long been the center of African American culture in Boston, prior to which the area was primarily Jewish.

Freedom House is a nonprofit community-based organization in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Freedom House is located in an area sometimes referred to as Grove Hall that lies along Blue Hill Ave. at the border between the Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston. Although it was historically identified with Roxbury, Freedom House currently refers to itself as being located either in Dorchester or in Grove Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tito Jackson (politician)</span> American politician

Tito Jackson is an American politician who was a member of the Boston City Council. He represented council District 7, representing parts of the Roxbury neighborhood and parts of Dorchester, South End, and Fenway. In 2017, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Boston against incumbent mayor Marty Walsh. After leaving the Boston City Council, Jackson worked in the cannabis industry. In 2022, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appointed Jackson to the city's Commission on Black Men and Boys.

Clarence "Jeep" Jones was an American community activist who was closely tied to the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston throughout his personal and professional life. Jones was the first African-American Deputy Mayor of the city of Boston. He had a 32-year career with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, serving as the Chairman of the board for 24 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Hill, Boston</span> United States historic place

Fort Hill is a 0.4 square mile neighborhood and historic district of Roxbury, in Boston, Massachusetts. The approximate boundaries of Fort Hill are Malcolm X Boulevard on the north, Washington Street on the southeast, and Columbus Avenue on the southwest.

Until 1950, African Americans were a small but historically important minority in Boston, where the population was majority white. Since then, Boston's demographics have changed due to factors such as immigration, white flight, and gentrification. According to census information for 2010–2014, an estimated 180,657 people in Boston are Black/African American, either alone or in combination with another race. Despite being in the minority, and despite having faced housing, educational, and other discrimination, African Americans in Boston have made significant contributions in the arts, politics, and business since colonial times.

Ekua Holmes is an American mixed-media artist, children's book illustrator, and arts organization professional. Holmes' primary method of art making is mixed media collage, by layering newspaper, photos, fabric, and other materials to create colorful compositions. Many of these works evoke her childhood in Roxbury's Washington Park neighborhood in Boston, MA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Miranda</span> American politician

Elizabeth Miranda is a Cape Verdean-American community organizer and politician. She is a state senator representing the Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Suffolk district after winning a five-way Democratic Primary Election, and advancing to an uncontested race in the 2022 Massachusetts general election. Prior to that, since January 2019, Miranda had served as the Democratic Massachusetts State Representative for the Fifth Suffolk district. Her district comprises parts of the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. She is a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts's 17th Worcester House district</span> American legislative district

The 17th Worcester district is one of 160 state legislative districts for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It is located in Central Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Haith</span> American activist

Hassie Benjamin Haith Jr., also known as Boston Ben, is an American activist, social worker, and designer of the Juneteenth flag. Haith has been active in anti-crime groups since the 1980s. He is also the founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation.

References

  1. Shlachter, Barry (1986-09-07). "Irate Blacks Pushing for Secession in Boston". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  2. Hornblower, Margot (1986-10-13). "In Boston, a Dream of Independence". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  3. Pattison-Gordon, Jule (2017-09-13). "Mandela, MA and the bid to separate from Boston". The Bay State Banner. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  4. Kennedy, Marie; Tilly, Chris (1986). "The Mandela Campaign, An Overview". Radical America. 20 (5) via EBSCO.
  5. Page, Clarence (1986-11-09). "Boston Chooses to Stay Intact". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  6. 1 2 https://electionstats.state.ma.us/data/serve_file_pages_for_item/5607/BallotQuestion/ [ bare URL PDF ]
  7. 1 2 "Mandela, MA and the bid to separate from Boston". The Bay State Banner. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  8. Butterfield, Fox (October 12, 1986). "Bostonians Debating Drive to Carve Out a Black City". New York Times. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  9. 1 2 Miletsky, Zebulon; González, Tomás (2016-09-22). ""Separatist City": The Mandela, Massachusetts (Roxbury) Movement and the Politics of Incorporation, Self-Determination, and Community Control, 1986–1988". Trotter Review. 23 (1). ISSN   2373-7743.
  10. Hays, Constance L. (December 10, 1989). "Boston's Black Areas Mount New Secession Drive". New York Times. p. 42. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  11. https://electionstats.state.ma.us/data/serve_file_pages_for_item/5550/BallotQuestion/ [ bare URL PDF ]