A Boston (R)Evolution
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Tuesday, Aug. 13, at 10 PM
Fusion (WNEO 45.2 / WEAO 49.2):
Saturday, Aug. 17, at 2:30 PM
A BOSTON (R)EVOLUTION examines one of America’s most racially complicated cities as it confronts not only its past but also its future. When Kim Janey, a black woman who was bused as a child into hostile neighborhoods, is catapulted to the position of acting mayor, she breaks a 200-year history of white men in the city's top seat. Boston's traditional old school politics are further challenged when the top candidates in the historic 2021 mayoral race are four non-white women.
The program connects the dots between Boston’s racially complicated past and Kim Janey’s appointment as acting mayor in 2021 to the subsequent historical mayoral election later that year, which resulted in Mayor Michelle Wu’s victory. Using historical footage, expert interviews, and personal narratives, the film contrasts Mel King’s 1983 mayoral campaign with the recent race in which the top candidates are four non-white women, and also considers the impact of the 1970s busing crisis on Boston’s present.
