ARCHIVES
OF EDITORIALS
May 12, 2005
Against a flawed perception
Boston is a very complex metropolis. It is difficult
to determine with accuracy who wields what power. The May issue
of Boston Magazine attempts to determine the 100 people who actually
“run this town.” The magazine even had the temerity
to list the power people from 1 to 100, depending upon their analysis
of the power of each person. There was only one African American
on the list, and he ranked 97.
The inexorable conclusion to be drawn from the “Power 100”
list is that African Americans, Latinos and Asians do not figure
significantly in the affairs of the city. It is difficult to determine
from the Boston Magazine article what criteria drove them to this
conclusion.
It seems that there are only five criteria upon which the compiler
of such a list can reasonably rely. First, the individual controls
enough funds to implement any project he or she envisions, and
does so. Second, the individual has the political clout and know-how
to mobilize governmental changes. Third, the individual generates
imaginative ideas and has the temperament to influence others
to implement them. Fourth, the individual’s achievements
are recognized, or should be recognized, by the community as outstanding.
And fifth, the individual holds a position of power.
The following are 20 African Americans listed in alphabetical
order who satisfy one or more of those criteria:
Wayne Budd – a former U.S. attorney for
Massachusetts, associate U.S. attorney general, executive vice
president and general counsel of John Hancock Insurance Company
and presently senior counsel, Goodwin Proctor LLP.
Andrea Cabral – Suffolk County sheriff.
James Cash – former professor of the Harvard
Business School, a recognized expert on IT, and a part owner of
the Boston Celtics.
Kevin Cohee – chairman and CEO of OneUnited
Bank, the largest black-owned bank in America.
Deborah Enos – president and CEO of the
Neighborhood Health Plan.
Rev. Ray Hammond – chairman of the board
of directors of The Boston Foundation.
Marian Heard – former president and CEO
of the United Way, director of the CVS Corporation, Liberty Mutual
Group, Sovereign Bancorp, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Jackie Jenkins-Scott – president, Wheelock
College.
Cleve Killingsworth – president and COO
of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Howard Manly – columnist for The Boston
Herald.
Ralph Martin – former Suffolk County district
attorney, political advisor, partner, Bingham McCotchen LLP.
Minister Don Muhammad – national consultant,
Nation of Islam.
Charles Ogletree – professor of law, Harvard
Law School.
George Russell – former treasurer, city
of Boston, executive vice president, State Street Bank.
Kirk Sykes – architect and developer, builder
and principal of Hampton Inn Hotel.
Dorothy Terrell – president, Initiative
for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC).
Bishop Gilbert Thompson – president, Black
Ministerial Alliance, presiding bishop of the Jubilee Christian
Church with the largest congregation of any church in Greater
Boston.
Fletcher “Flash” Wiley – president
and COO, PRWT Services.
Dianne Wilkerson – lawyer and state senator.
Darnell Williams – president, Urban League
of Eastern Massachusetts.
Other African Americans could be included, such as Kenneth Guscott
who honchoed the development of One Lincoln Place, a million square
foot office tower developed by blacks, Asians and Latinos.
Ever since the racial conflict following the school busing decision
in 1974, Boston has been battling to erase its racist image. It
is certainly not helpful for a publication to assert that no African
Americans, or Asians and Latinos for that matter, play a major
role in the affairs of the city. One must wonder what motivated
such an inaccurate conclusion.
Home
Page
