“My constituents are diverse, but there are unifying themes — social justice and fairness,” said Wilkerson during a Banner interview on Monday.

Wilkerson’s commitment to social justice landed her in the dog house of religious leaders in her district when she voted against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

“That was a battle around the movement to amend our constitution, to memorialize discrimination in our most sacred document,” she said. “There are just issues you agree to disagree on, and that would be one of them.”

Wilkerson’s stand on gay marriage underlines another theme of her tenure — her willingness to discard political expedience in favor of what she believes to be in the public’s best interest.

A case in point came in 2001 when, following the 2000 census, many legislators were looking to have their districts redrawn in ways that would maximize their chances for re-election. Wilkerson instead requested that neighborhoods of color from her district be moved into the adjacent 1st Suffolk, making voters of color a majority in both districts.

“I went from 75 percent to 55 percent people of color,” she said. “Some people said that was crazy, political suicide. I think the people who said that are probably confused about the difference between what is in the best interests of the people you serve and what is in your best interest.”

Her decision to represent new neighborhoods has put more work on Wilkerson’s plate, forcing her to work for the interests of affluent residents of the Back Bay and Jamaica Plain alongside her traditional base in Roxbury and the black community.

She recently hired a former aide to then state Rep. Kevin Fitzgerald, Richard Giordano.

“He is going to be focused on cultivating the relationships with the different communities,” said Wilkerson. “He will probably spend most of his time walking around Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, Jamaica Plain and Chinatown.”

Despite the large minority of white residents in her redrawn district, Wilkerson ran unopposed this fall and appears confident in her ability to win support from her economically and racially diverse constituents.

“If there is any skill I’ve learned in the 12 years I’ve been here, it would be the ability to juggle issues and make each group of constituents feel my attention to an issue is most important to me because it is most important to them,” she said.

As she looks ahead at the issues facing the black community in 2005, Wilkerson sees education reform near the top of the list.

“I think the legislation is going to be back at the drawing board in the education process,” she said. “We are all waiting for the results of the Hancock versus Driscoll case and how it will impact state education funding.”

If plaintiffs win the Driscoll case, the state could be required to increase funding for underfunded school districts.

More changes to the state’s MCAS exam could also be in the works. Wilkerson says the Legislature should raise the bar of achievement necessary to pass the exam, which students must pass to graduate from high school.

“There is a growing argument that those standards by which we now measure students are not high enough to help our children succeed,” she said. “We need to set standards for our students and provide the resources to get them there. Unless the two things happen at once, we are going to fail.”

Again, Wilkerson has taken a clear position on a controversial issue. Education activists are divided over whether the MCAS helps or hurts black and Latino students, who fail the test at much higher rates than whites and Asians.

“I wouldn’t lower what I think should be required of our children to succeed just because some can’t get there,” said Wilkerson. “You have to set proficiency standards that will allow our children to be competitive in a world of their peers, and we have to create an educational program with the appropriate curriculum and resources to get them there.”

As for legislation she has filed for the new two-year legislative session, Wilkerson lists 18 new bills and numerous re-files, on topics ranging from asthma education to voting rights.

Of course, the job of a legislator is also to oppose certain legislation seen as against the interests of one’s constituency. And Wilkerson plans to energetically oppose at least one initiative put forward by Republican Governor Mitt Romney.

“He thinks he can come up with an error-proof death penalty,” she said. “I will fight it with all my being. As long as human beings are involved, the process can’t be error-proof.”

When asked whether she plans to leave her post after the current two-year term, which just began on Monday, Wilkerson said she is open to the idea of moving on.

“Fourteen years is a long time, and though we don’t have term limits I am very open to the idea,” she said. “But in some respects, this is just getting good. I am getting more things passed into law, and some of that success clearly comes with seniority.”

As for where she would go if she did leave her position, Wilkerson indicated that she might continue in public service.

“I like public service,” she said. “Many people work all their lives and never find their calling, but I am clearly a public service nut.”