Boston City Councilor Thomas I. Atkins strove throughout his life to break down barriers and become a political leader, despite being faced with mid-century American racism. Reading through his biography, one can’t help but notice the repetition of the phrase “First African American to...” He was the first African American student body president at his high school and again at Indiana University (which also made him the first African American student body president in the Big 10). After coming to Boston to study at Harvard, he became the first African American elected to Boston City Council, and later in his career, he was the first African American to serve as a Massachusetts Cabinet Secretary. Atkins’s accomplishments go beyond setting new precedents for African American leaders. He did important work on the Boston City Council, on the Boston and National NAACP boards, and on the Morgan v. Hennigan case. The day after MLK’s assassination, Atkins is credited with persuading Mayor Kevin White to famously not cancel the James Brown concert, which was instead broadcast live on WGBH-TV. Atkins even ran for mayor of Boston in 1971, although he came in 4th place overall. more
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