Good for Cambridge, MA
Since being elected mayor of Cambridge by her city council peers, Denise Simmons has fielded a few questions from the three grandchildren she is raising: Can they enjoy watching the Super Bowl on the flat screen TV that hangs in the mayor’s office? Does this mean extra tickets to the high school graduation? Will they get an allowance now?
Simmons responds by reminding them that, "I’m not here to make your life different; I’m here because I worked to get here. Now let’s talk about the process." Her historic election as the country’s first African American, out lesbian mayor was the result of working her way up the ranks from ward committee member to school committee member to city councilor, which ultimately positioned her for her new post, she tells them.
"It’s an opportunity also to tell them it’s all about grit and determination that makes it happen for you," adds Simmons during a recent interview in her new office. "And grit and determination of an African American woman."
Simmons, a history buff who has researched her ancestry, then references the remarks she made upon being sworn into office on Jan. 14, in which she recounted the tale of her grandfather, Pompey Hines, who was born into slavery and later freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. His former owner, said Simmons, told Hines he could keep as much land as he could walk off. "Would he have believed when he was toiling in the fields that one day in a distant time that he would never see, not even in his dreams, that one of his own would be the mayor of a major city?" she says. "That’s what being here is all about."
In a similar vein, Simmons also asks if Bayard Rustin, the black civil rights activist who was relegated to a behind-the-scenes role in the movement because he was gay, could ever have imagined "that one of his own would ever be the mayor of a major city?
"And so it’s a sort of double reward, if you will, but I think back from whence I came and what I came through and let [my grandchildren] know it was never easy."
In an interesting twist, Simmons, who has served on the Cambridge City Council since 2001, is the city’s second consecutive African American, openly gay mayor: She succeeded Ken Reeves, who completed his third term as mayor last year.
Simmons said she was focused more on the nuts and bolts of the job than on the historic nature of her election when she decided to throw her hat in the mayoral ring. "You know, the mayor chairs the school committee so I was thinking of the job of chairing the school committee," she explains, noting that her grandchildren, who are 10, 14 and 16, attend city schools. "I came from the school committee to the city council, so I’ve always had an interest, an ongoing interest, keen interest, in public education."
In addition to education, Simmons says her priorities as mayor include crafting a "green jobs" policy that will serve the economic interests of local workers - particularly in minority and other traditionally disenfranchised communities - while also raising
Simmons responds by reminding them that, "I’m not here to make your life different; I’m here because I worked to get here. Now let’s talk about the process." Her historic election as the country’s first African American, out lesbian mayor was the result of working her way up the ranks from ward committee member to school committee member to city councilor, which ultimately positioned her for her new post, she tells them.
"It’s an opportunity also to tell them it’s all about grit and determination that makes it happen for you," adds Simmons during a recent interview in her new office. "And grit and determination of an African American woman."
Simmons, a history buff who has researched her ancestry, then references the remarks she made upon being sworn into office on Jan. 14, in which she recounted the tale of her grandfather, Pompey Hines, who was born into slavery and later freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. His former owner, said Simmons, told Hines he could keep as much land as he could walk off. "Would he have believed when he was toiling in the fields that one day in a distant time that he would never see, not even in his dreams, that one of his own would be the mayor of a major city?" she says. "That’s what being here is all about."
In a similar vein, Simmons also asks if Bayard Rustin, the black civil rights activist who was relegated to a behind-the-scenes role in the movement because he was gay, could ever have imagined "that one of his own would ever be the mayor of a major city?
"And so it’s a sort of double reward, if you will, but I think back from whence I came and what I came through and let [my grandchildren] know it was never easy."
In an interesting twist, Simmons, who has served on the Cambridge City Council since 2001, is the city’s second consecutive African American, openly gay mayor: She succeeded Ken Reeves, who completed his third term as mayor last year.
Simmons said she was focused more on the nuts and bolts of the job than on the historic nature of her election when she decided to throw her hat in the mayoral ring. "You know, the mayor chairs the school committee so I was thinking of the job of chairing the school committee," she explains, noting that her grandchildren, who are 10, 14 and 16, attend city schools. "I came from the school committee to the city council, so I’ve always had an interest, an ongoing interest, keen interest, in public education."
In addition to education, Simmons says her priorities as mayor include crafting a "green jobs" policy that will serve the economic interests of local workers - particularly in minority and other traditionally disenfranchised communities - while also raising
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