The parade of cities - with Black mayors

Ebony, Feb, 1990

The Parade Of Cities

MAYNARD H. Jackson, the first Black mayor of Atlanta (total population, 421,910; Black population, 282, 911) returns to the top executive post of this Southern city of nearly half a million people after eight years in the private sector. Under Atlanta law, Jackson had to relinquish the mayor's job after serving two consecutive four-year terms. During the eight years that Andrew Young held the mayor's office, Jackson built a laudable reputation as a bond attorney for the Chicago-based firm of Chapman and Cutler.

He handily won the mayor's race last October with 79 percent of the 69,200 votes cast. A hero among Black Atlantans--who are 67 percent of the city's population--Jackson also is perceived by White business leaders as a strong, confident politician.

He is said to have mellowed somewhat since his first stint as mayor, which began in 1974 when he was a mere 35, the youngest mayor in Atlanta's history. Still, those around him, including his wife Valerie, a graudate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, say he hasn't changed. It's just that his approach to problems such as poverty and injustice have been tempered by the experience he gleaned from his years in the private sector.

Jackson, 51, is a father of five who enjoys loading his brood into the family car on Sundays for drives through various Atlanta communities. He is also given to occasional exercise on weight machines and to enjoying classical and jazz music, of which the BeBop era classics of Johnny Hartman with sax legend John Coltrane are his favorites.

COLEMAN YOUNG, the first Black mayor of Detroit (total population 1 million; Black population 758,939) won a fifth term by triumphing over his opponent Tom Barrow and capturing 59 percent of the vote. The 71-year-old incumbent defeated several strong challengers, including Rep. John Conyers, in the primary race last September. Young says he will continue his efforts to revitalize Detroit's downtown. Downtown Detroit is home for some 5,000 people and Young has promised to continue plans to develop new housing and commercial properties there. He has also indicated that priorities for the next four years include a rapid transit system, an expansion of Detroit River port and the building of a shopping center. The divorced, unmarried mayor was born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., his family migrated north to Detroit where his father worked as a watchman for the U.S. Post Office and as a tailor. Young graduated from Eastern High School, worked as an assembly lineman for Ford Motor Co., and a postal worker. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He became a union activist and in 1961 was elected as a delegate to the state constitutional convention. Young served as a state senator from 1964 until he became mayor in 1973. In his off duty hours, he can be found in his favorite chair at the Manoogian Mansion engrossed in a good book or a game of solitaire.

IN 1965, when Carl Stokes first ran for mayor of Cleveland (total population, 535,830; Black population 241,123), 14-year-old Michael White decided that he, too, wanted to be mayor of his hometown. To achieve that goal, he earned a master's degree in public administration from Ohio State, worked as special assistant to the mayor of Columbus, and served as administrative assistant to the Cleveland City Council president. At 26, he was elected to the city council, and after serving for seven years, he won a seat in the state senate.

But many Cleveland natives were surprised when the 38-year-old anti-drug crusader scored an upset run-off election victory against the powerful city council president, George Forbes. White was able to build a coalition of Cleveland voters that transcended race. "I worked hard, seven days a week, 15 hours a day," he says. "I would not accept defeat. I would not accept "no". I would not accept that it couldn't happen."

But now the real work begins. As mayor of the stable but still struggling city of a half million people, about 45 percent of which is Black, White's priorities are jobs, public safety, education, rebuilding neighborhoods, improving race relations, and developing Cleveland's neglected youth. "I want to help our young people," he says. "We need to find and develop a new generation of leadership. A lot of young talent has left the city and a lot hasn't even been tapped and trained."

He and his wife, Tamera, live in the same Cleveland neighborhood where he grew up, and he loves baked fish, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and greens. He also is a member of Morning Star Baptist Church.

CHESTER JENKINS, first Black mayor of Durham, N.C. (total population 113,890; Black population 47,474) won his seat by a 3,000 vote margin, gathering 54 percent of the votes, while opponent Nelson Strawbridge, a retired businessman, finished with 46 percent. Jenkins, 51, has served eight years (two terms) on the Durham City Council and will continue to serve as its 13th member after taking office in Decmeber. He first ran for mayor in 1986 and lost, he says he tried again because he saw the office "as my next logical step if I am to stay in politics." Jenkins benefited in the race from a coalition of some five organizations that came together to help defeat the more conservative faction. "We [Black officeholders] must be able to stress to the voters that we can handle fiscal responsibilities, the economic sides of the equation," Jenkin says. "we must be able to address the pocketbook issues as well as the non-pocketbook issues." Though the two-year term is served on a part-time basis, Jenkins, who has served for six years as "mayor protem" says he is certain the demands of the job will require full-time energy and commitment. The new mayor, a senior marketing analyst for General Telephone Equipment Corp., says his vision for Durham is in keeping with its booming development. A native of Durham, Jenkins is the father of seven children, two by his second wife, Leola Hall Jenkins, chief librarian at the Veteran Administration Hospital in Durham. In his off-duty hours, he unwinds by listening to a little country music or some "down-home" blues.