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Last
week, St. Louis made the news. This time, it was good news. The city
made history with the election of its first Black female mayor.
Tishaura Jones will succeed the city’s first white female
mayor, whose incompetence and lack of leadership resulted in numerous
negative headlines over the course of her less than stellar one term.
For
those of us who’ve been fighting for Black political power,
making history was a footnote. We’ve been organizing around a
serious, political strategy that transcends Black faces in high
places. Building a multi-racial, intergenerational movement in St.
Louis is about more than one candidate. It’s about intentional
progress for a city mired in a white supremacist, patriarchal past.
It
is exactly why the election is believed to be a turning point for the
city. It was a vote for breaking with the backward, racist status quo
which has been choking the life and promise out of the city,
marginalizing its Black population politically and economically.
Tishaura
Jones is no neophyte to politics. Her father, Virvus Jones, served as
an alderman, the city assessor and city comptroller. Tishaura also
has three offices under her public service belt. She was a state
representative, city treasurer and now, mayor. Neither of the Joneses
is cut from bureaucratic cloth, both have been unapologetically
pro-Black community.
In
the seven years since the Ferguson Uprising, our social justice
movement has matured and strengthened. The region has become more
politically conscious, more engaged and more demanding of
transformative change. It has swept a number of progressive Black
candidates into office like St. Louis County Prosecutor Wes Bell, St.
Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and Congresswoman Cori Bush. We
passed a minimum wage increase and Medicare Expansion and beat back a
Right-to-Work law.
Implementing
that agenda means changing the faces of those who have been
misrepresenting and disregarding us. We are getting rid of the weeds
- regardless of race or gender - so that the flowers of equity,
inclusion and transparency can bloom.
Tishaura
Jones will inherit a hot mess as the new mayor. On top of a deadly
pandemic, Jones faces a hostile police department, record homicides,
population loss and neighborhood destabilization. Structural racism
and all of its props are formidable obstacles. Her first 100 Days
will be a sobering testament to her commitment and skills.
It
will also be a challenge for Jones’ supporters to exhibit our
patience and endurance. We will have to work hard to strengthen our
movement to protect our hard-fought gains. It is becoming a
bodacious, powerful force that will continue to expand as we
implement The People’s agenda in the crucible of democracy.
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