This film examines one of America’s most racially complicated cities as it confronts its past whilst building its future.
A Boston (R)Evolution airs Tuesday, August 13 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV
When Kim Janey, a Black woman, 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 film paints a unique portrait of an American city that continues to evolve. It reveals a side of Boston heretofore unseen in mainstream media. A Boston (R)Evolution is a tight and fast-paced documentary that asks if America’s bedrock city can finally confront its past.
A Boston (R)Evolution 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.