>>> SHE WAS THE ONLY PERSON WHO
SHOWED UP FOR GEOGRAPHY THAT
DAY.
SEPTEMBER 12th, 1974, VALERIE
BANKS AND HER BACKPACK WERE THE
ONLY ONES IN CLASS.
A COURT HAD JUST ORDERED THE
CITY OF BOSTON TO DESEGREGATE
ITS PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
THE COURT SAID BOSTON HAD TO
START BUSSING WHITE KIDS TO
BLACK SCHOOLS AND BLACK KIDS TO
WHITE SCHOOLS.
LOTS OF FAMILIES FROM WHITE
NEIGHBORHOODS IN BOSTON BALKED
AT THE IDEA OF SENDING THEIR
KIDS TO TRADITIONALLY BLACK
NEIGHBORHOODS.
THEY BALKED ESPECIALLY AT BLACK
KIDS COME TO WHAT WAS ALL WHITE
SCHOOLS.
THAT’S HOW SHE ENDED UP ALL BY
HERSELF, THE FIRST DAY OF THE
COURT ORRED BUSSING PROGRAM.
PARENTS FLAT-OUT REFUSED TO
ACCEPTED THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL
WITH BLACK KIDS.
WITHIN A YEAR, A THIRD OF WHITE
KIDS GOT TAKEN OUT OF BOSTON
PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND IT IS
PAINFUL TO SEE THAT YOUNG GIRL
SITTING ALL BY HERSELF IN THAT
CLASSROOM.
BUT IT ONLY GOT MORE TRAUMATIC
FOR KIDS LIKE VALERIE THERE.
BLACK STUDENTS WERE THE TARGET
OF BIG RACIST MOBS IN BOSTON.
OFTEN REALLY VICE PRESIDENT
PROTESTS BY WHILE PEOPLE IN
BOSTON.
THEY THREW ROCKS AT THE KIDS
WHILE THEY GOT ON THE BUS.
BLACK KIDS HAD TO BUCK
SHATTERING ACROSS COMING AT THEM
THROUGH THE BUS WINDOWS AS THE
BUSES WERE ATTACKED.
HERE’S A WOMAN SCREAMING AT A
BUS FULL OF BLACK CHILDREN WHO
ARE BEING TAKEN HOME AFTER
SCHOOL.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER SAYS SHE WAS
YELLING TO THOSE LITTLE KIDS "GO
HOME AND STAY HOME."
YELLING AT LITTLE KIDS.
PEOPLE WALKING THE STREET IN KU
KLUX KLAN GEAR.
THIS IS A BUILDING IN A WHITE
NEIGHBORHOOD IN BOSTON, A
MESSAGE FOR ALL THE BLACK KIDS,
ALL THE BLACK STUDENTS BEING
BUSSED IN TO SEE ON THEIR WAY TO
SCHOOL EVERY MORNING.
WE BLURRED WHAT THE WORD IS BUT
YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORD IS.
THE TRAUMA THOSE KIDS HAD TO
ENDURE.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN -- IT WOULD
BE ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE IF THERE
WEREN’T THE PICTURES TO PROVE
IT.
>> I REMEMBER RIDING THE BUS TO
PROTECT THE KIDS GOING UP TO
SOUTH BOSTON.
SIGNS HANGING OFF THE BUILDINGS
[ BLEEP ] GO HOME.
PICTURES OF MONKEYS.
PEOPLE FELT IT WAS ALL RIGHT TO
ATTACK CHILDREN.
>> I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT.
I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
SOUTH BOSTON.
I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
THEY DIDN’T LIKE US.
I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING THAT WAS
IN STORE FOR US.
BUT WHEN WE GOT THERE IT WAS
LIKE A WAR ZONE.
I CAME BACK AND I TOLD MY MOM
AND I NEVER FORGET, I SAID MOM,
I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THAT
SCHOOL UNLESS I HAVE A GUN.
EXACTLY, AT 14 YEARS OLD.
I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THAT
SCHOOL.
>> THAT OVERT RACISM, THE RACIST
ATTACKS IN BOSTON OVER BUSSING.
IT TOOK YEARS BEFORE ANY OF THAT
SIMMERED DOWN, BUT STARS FOR
THOSE WHO LIVED THROUGH IT NEVER
FADED AWAY.
BOSTON REMAINS AN INCREDIBLY
UNEQUAL PLACE TO LIVE BY JUST
ABOUT EVERY METRIC.
IN 2013, THE NET WORTH FOR A
WHITE FAMILY LIVING IN BOSTON
WAS ROUGHLY $250,000.
NET WORTH OF A BLACK FAMILY
LIVING IN BOSTON WAS AN AVERAGE
OF $8.
BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT IS 65%
WHITE, EVEN THOUGH WHITE PEOPLE
MAKE UP LESS THAT HALF THE CITY.
THAT’S STILL TODAY.
IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT THE CITY
ITSELF IS INVESTING IN WHERE
THEY’RE DOLING OUT LUCRATIVE
CONTRACTS HANDED OUT WE THE CITY
IN 2018 AND 2019.
ONE HALF OF 1% OF THOSE WENT TO
BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES.
YOU SEE IT IN REPRESENTATION AT
THE HIGHEST LEVELS, TOO.
THE MAYOR IN BOSTON HAS ONLY
EVER BEEN A WHITE MAN.
FOR ALL TIME.
FOR THE LAST 91 YEARS THAT WHITE
MAN HAS BEEN EITHER OF IRISH OR
ITALIAN DESCENT, FULL STOP.
90 STRAIGHT YEARS OF IRISH OR
ITALIAN AMERICAN MEN.
THE CITY OF BOSTON HAS NEVER
BEEN REPRESENTED BY A BLACK OR A
WOMAN UNTIL NOW.
THIS IS KIM JANY.
HER FAMILY HAS LIVED HERE FOR
SIX GENERATIONS.
WHEN SHE WAS 16 SHE BECAME A
MOM.
SHE WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.
AFTER GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL SHE
STARTED A COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
SHE ULTIMATELY ENROLLED AT
SMITH.
SHE WORKED A JOB CLEANING
BATHROOMS WHILE SHE WAS IN
COLLEGE TO PROVIDE TELEVISION
AND PICK AND ROLL FOR HER
DAUGHTER.
SHE PUSHED TO REFORM BOSTON’S
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
2017 SHE WAS ELECTED TO THE CITY
COUNCIL IN BOSTON.
SHE WAS CHOSEN BY HER PIERS THEN
TO BECOME THE CITY COUNCIL’S
PRESIDENT.
THAT CHOICE WAS MADE LAST YEAR.
AS CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT, THERE
SHE WAS IN PLACE.
THAT IS HOW THIS WEEK KIM JAMIE
BECAME MAYOR OF BOSTON.
THE LAST MAYOR OF 3W5U69, MARTY
WALSH, JUST RESIGNED TO BECOME
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S LABOR
SECRETARY.
THE LINE OF SUCCESSION IS THE
PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL
GETS TO BE ACTING MAYOR.
THAT MAKES KIM JANY THE FIRST
BLACK PERSON TO LEAD THE CITY OF
BOSTON, THE FIRST WOMAN TO LEAD
THE CITY OF BOSTON.
SHE WAS ALSO ONE OF THOSE BOSTON
KIDS IN THE 70s WHO WAS PELTED
WITH ROCKS AND RACIAL SLURS.
SHE WAS 11 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE
GOT ON THE DESEGREGATION BUSES
IN BOSTON.
SHE WAS BUSSED TO SCHOOL IN THE
SAME PART OF TOWN WHERE THEY SET
THAT MANKIN OF A BLACK PERSON ON
FIRE.
YESTERDAY, YESTERDAY SHE WENT
BACK TO THAT SCHOOL WHERE SHE
WAS PUSED TO IN 1976.
SHE WENT BACK, THIS TIME ON HER
FIRST FULL DAY AS THE MAYOR OF
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.
>> AS A GIRL GROWING UP IN
BOSTON, I WASSER IN CHURD BY A E
IT WAS MY VILLAGE.
WHEN I WAS JUST 11 YEARS OLD,
SCHOOL BUSSING ROLLED INTO MY
LIFE.
I WAS FORCED ON TO THE FRONT
LINES OF THE 1970s BATTLE TO
DESEGREGATE BOSTON PUBLIC
SCHOOLS.
I HAD ROCKS AND RACIAL SLURS
THROWN AT MY BUS SIMPLY FOR
ATTENDING SCHOOL WHILE BLACK.
JUST YESTERDAY ON MY FIRST FULL
DAY AS MAYOR, I VISITED MY
CHILDHOOD ALMA MATER.
I SAW STUDENTS HAPPY TO BE BACK
IN SCHOOL WITH THEIR TEACHERS
AND FRIENDS INSTEAD OF THE PAIN
AND TRAUMA THAT I HAD
EXPERIENCED IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.
TO THINK THAT MY TEENAGE
GRANDSONS WERE BORN AT A TIME
WHEN THERE HAD NEVER EVEN BEEN A
BLACK WOMAN ON OUR CITY COUNCIL,
AND TODAY MY SIX-YEAR-OLD
GRANDDAUGHTER ROSY AND OTHER
LITTLE GIRLS CAN SEE THEMSELVES
REPRESENTED IN MASSACHUSETTS’
HIGHEST COURT, THE HALLS OF CONGRESS, AND NOW IN THE 55th
CONGRESS, AND NOW IN THE 55th
AND IN SOME CASES MORE THAN
ONCE.
HERE IN BOSTON, THE OLD LINE
HELD.
NOT ANYMORE.
JOINING US NOW KIM JANEY, MADAME
MAYOR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR
BEING HERE AND CONGRATULATIONS.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
IT IS AN HONOR TO BE HERE.
I AM A BIG FAN, THANK YOU FOR
HAVING ME.
>> IT IS NICE OF YOU TO SAY.
LET ME JUST ASK YOU ONE OF THE
THINGS YOU SAID IN YOUR SPEECH
WHEN YOU WERE SWORN IN TODAY
THAT YOU BRING TO THIS MOMENT
LIFE EXPERIENCE THAT’S DIFFERENT
FROM THE MEN WHO CAME BEFORE ME.
TELL ME ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS
FOR THIS JOB, FOR THE CITY OF
BOSTON AND HOW THAT WILL
INFLUENCE THIS INCREDIBLY LARGE
JOB YOU ARE TAKING ON NOW?
>> WELL, AS A WOMAN GROWING UP,
AND LITTLE GIRL GROWING UP AND
AS A BLACK WOMAN WHO HAVE LIVED
THROUGH OUR DARKEST DAYS IN OUR
CITY, I CERTAINLY BRING ALL OF
THAT WITH ME.
BUT, I ALSO KNOW THAT OUR CITY
IS A CITY OF HOPE AND
POSSIBILITIES AND SO I AM ENCOURAGED CERTAINLY BY WHAT I
ENCOURAGED CERTAINLY BY WHAT I
SAW WHEN I VISITED MY CHILDHOOD
ALMA MATER.
I WAS BUSSED HERE IN BOSTON
DURING THE SEGREGATION ERA.
IT WAS A TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE
GROWING UP AND VIOLENT TIMES IN
OUR CITY.
HERE SITTING HERE AS MAYOR DOES
SYMBOLIZE HAVE FAR WE HAVE COME
AS A CITY.
WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO.
YESTERDAY ON MY FIRST FULL DAY
AS MAYOR I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO GO BACK AND SEE YOUNG PEOPLE
LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM.
I VISITED A CLASSROOM WHERE THEY
WERE STUDYING DESEGREGATION IN
BOSTON AND TO BE THERE IN THAT
CLASSROOM AS SOMEONE WHO LIVED
THROUGH THAT EXPERIENCE AND ABLE
TO SHARE THAT EXPERIENCE WITH
THE STUDENTS WAS PRETTY
INCREDIBLE AND TO BE THERE AS
THE FIRST BLACK MAYOR AND THE
FIRST WOMAN MAYOR FOR OUR CITY
WAS MIND-BLOWING.
IT WAS GREAT TO SEE STUDENTS IN
THE CLASSROOM AND LEARNING AND
ENGAGE AND NOT HAVING TO WORRY
ABOUT THAT PAINFUL TIME IN OUR
HISTORY.
THAT BEING SAID, WE DO HAVE A
LOT OF WORK TO DO IN BOSTON.
THESE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES ARE
NOT NEW.
THEY ARE CENTURIES OLD IN THE
MAKING.
THERE IS A LOT OF WORK TO DO
WHEN IT COMES TO COMBATTING
STRUCTURAL RACISM IN OUR CITY.