Fighting for Equal Representation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, The Collective PAC — the nation’s largest political action committee dedicated to increasing Black political engagement, representation and power across all levels of government — condemned Boston City Council candidate Mary Tamer on her campaign’s use of blatantly racist mailers targeting Kendra Hicks, a Black woman running for the same city council seat.
Founders of The Collective PAC, Quentin James and Stefanie Brown James, released the following statement:
“The Collective PAC is appalled by the blatantly racist and tired campaign tactic used by Mary Tamer’s campaign to attack her fellow city council challenger, Kendra Hicks. Editing and darkening a Black candidate’s photo in campaign mailers has unfortunately been a longstanding political tactic to fearmonger voters against Black candidates like Kendra Hicks. This form of discriminatory and petty campaign tactics has no place in Boston politics and as the former president of the city’s League of Women Voters campaigning to represent all Bostonians, Mrs. Tamer should be ashamed of her racist actions against a Black woman. Boston voters deserve better and clearly, Mrs. Tamer is not interested in representing the best interests of people of color and as such, should not be elected to serve the residents of district 6 in the Boston City Council.
Last month, The Collective PAC endorsed Kendra Hicks for Boston City Council and would like to take the time to restate that Mrs. Hicks is an experienced organizer, nonprofit executive and racial equity consultant who has worked tirelessly to enact change in her Jamaica Plane neighborhood. She is an outstanding leader who understands the challenges and opportunities facing Bostonians and The Collective PAC looks forward to helping Mrs. Hicks continue her work to ensure that Boston is a city that represents and works for the best interests of all residents.”
Kendra Hicks (candidate for Boston City Council) is a proud first-generation Black Dominican woman, mother, wife and artist. She was born in the Bronx, NY and in 1990 relocated to Jamaica Plane with her family and has called it home ever since. At the age of 13, Mrs. Hicks discovered her calling to become a community organizer and an agent of change. For the past five years, she has served as Director of Radical Philanthropy at the historic Boston-based organization Resist and if elected to city council, will continue to work on educational equity, safe and affordable housing and environmental justice.
ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE PAC
The Collective PAC is working to create an America where Black people are equally represented at every level of government. The Collective PAC is strategically focused on creating a truly equitable democracy where our nation’s local, state and federal governments have diverse and talented elected leadership and Black people are fully represented in positions of power to create the policies necessary to progress our communities forward.