Ninety-nine mayors — and finally one who looks like me

I didn’t think much about the potentially historic aspect of Philly’s mayoral campaign until I recently saw a TV ad featuring several girls of various races gazing at photos of former city mayors, including the ignominious Frank Rizzo. Then, Cherelle Parker’s voice declares: “Ninety-nine mayors. Not one of them looks like you — or me.”

This gutted me. The other day, I went on YouTube and watched the advertisement again.

Again, same reaction.

It’s a damning reality.

A total of 99 mayors have served since William Penn appointed Humphrey Morrey to the post in 1691. But not one of them has been a woman, much less an African American female. Which means, as Parker aptly points out in her campaign ad, not one of them has looked like me. Or any other woman reading this.

The fact that Philadelphia elected such a long line of — mostly white — men to run the city is a glaring illustration of how repressed women have been, and how resistant society remains to change. We like to imagine the City of Brotherly Love as having evolved, but we are so accustomed to seeing men in charge that it is easy to not notice women’s absence from our highest offices. It can almost seem as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Not any longer.

Given how heavily Democrats outnumber Republicans in Philly, the city will most likely elect its first female mayor on Election Day. The optics of a Parker administration will be a huge game changer for girls and young women. Representation is important; as Parker has pointed out, “You can’t be what you don’t see.” Seeing a female mayor — finally — running Philly will show every girl in this city that nothing is off limits to them. They can operate in C-suites. They can start a business. They can call the shots.

“No more glass ceilings; we need the concrete pavers to lay a smooth path,” Parker once told The Inquirer as she gestured to her black pumps, “especially when you wear these kind of shoes.”

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As an African American woman, I cheered the night she won the election. Even if it wasn’t so much because of her politics.

Parker supports a “constitutional” form of stop-and-frisk, in which police can only stop someone if they have a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. This practice, of course, ends up targeting Black men, and there is little evidence that stop-and-frisk can reduce crime. I also refuse to believe she doesn’t know exactly where she stands on the controversial proposal to build a new 76ers arena in Center City. Her idea to bring in the National Guard to shut down the open-air drug market in Kensington would only push the problem to another neighborhood, and the jury’s still out on the feasibility of adopting year-round school, as she has proposed.

The reason I jumped out of my bed and celebrated the night Parker won the Democratic primary is because a woman had finally crashed through the thick glass ceiling of Philly politics. And a Black woman at that. Historically, we have been behind-the-scenes workers in politics, urging residents to vote for the men in the top spots and taking on other supportive roles. Finally, the political machines have placed one of us in a position to actually become mayor.

Once sworn in, she will join a small but elite group of women of color running major American cities, such as Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Progress, yes. But Black women are still vastly underrepresented at the highest levels of government. The country has yet to vote in a Black female governor, and only two African American women have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate. But change is happening, as evidenced by Vice President Kamala Harris, who is both Black and Asian.

Change is happening.

It’s hard to say what might change under a woman’s leadership. Experts often wax on about how female leaders are more empathetic, more apt to listen to employees than simply tell them what to do. In my own career as a newspaper journalist, I’ve worked under both male and female editors, and haven’t noticed much difference in leadership styles.

Still, some researchers claim that female leaders may bring different skills to the job and are more collaborative, which may bode well for solving the many intractable issues facing this great city.

But one thing is sure: Having a Black woman as mayor — regardless of her policies, her governing style, or her personality — will mean something to all the women and girls of Philadelphia, particularly those of color. For the first time, we will be able to see ourselves in the person who is in charge. Also, I’m hoping that this will also mean more attention will be paid to the needs of women of color. It’s outrageous that the Black maternal mortality rate is four times higher than that of their white counterparts.

I don’t know Parker personally. But last year, we met for coffee at La Colombe at Sixth and Market Streets to talk about her proposal to lure back recently retired police as a way to increase the number of cops on the street. After she told me all the merits of the idea, she asked me what I thought.

In all my years as a journalist, that was the only time a politician ever took a break from pontificating and solicited my opinion.

So, yes, I plan to attend Parker’s mayoral swearing-in ceremony in January. I’ve never bothered to go before. But this time will be history-making, and I want to experience it in person. After 99 consecutive male mayors, finally, Philly will have someone in the top spot who will look like me. Wow.