Acting Mayor Kim Janey announced her candidacy for mayor Tuesday with a campaign video that calls out Boston's “deep racial inequities,” invokes a host of civil rights and political leaders, and casts her career as one which follows in their footsteps.
Then-City Council President Janey became acting mayor last month — as the city charter dictates — when predecessor Marty Walsh became U.S. Secretary of Labor. Because the string of white males in city hall's top job had been unbroken, Janey's status as a Black woman catapulted her to national attention. Janey's video celebrates her historic position and makes it a focal point of her campaign.