Kenneth Reeves
Encyclopedia
Kenneth "Ken" Reeves served as the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts
, (United States
) from 1992–1995 and again from 2006-2007. He is the first openly gay
African American
man to have served as mayor of any city in the United States. Cambridge's elections are non-partisan, but he identifies himself with the Democratic Party
. Reeves is a graduate of Harvard College
. While mayor, he was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City
mayor Michael Bloomberg
and Boston
mayor Thomas Menino
. He served as the Managing Attorney of the General Motors
/United Auto Workers
legal plan and as an attorney specializing in utility, insurance and banking regulations for the National Consumer Law Center in Boston. Reeves has also been in private practice as a principal in the law firm Singleton, Reeves, Bowzer and Huggins.
According to Laurie Aaron, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Administrator, Reeves has suspended practicing law, and has decided to no longer be a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Reeves was succeeded as mayor in 2008 by E. Denise Simmons
, who became the first openly lesbian
African American mayor in the United States.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, (United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) from 1992–1995 and again from 2006-2007. He is the first openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
man to have served as mayor of any city in the United States. Cambridge's elections are non-partisan, but he identifies himself with the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. Reeves is a graduate of Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. While mayor, he was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a coalition of over 600 mayors who support a number of gun control initiatives that the group calls "commonsense reforms" to fight illegal gun trafficking and gun violence in the United States...
, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
mayor Thomas Menino
Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...
. He served as the Managing Attorney of the General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
/United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
legal plan and as an attorney specializing in utility, insurance and banking regulations for the National Consumer Law Center in Boston. Reeves has also been in private practice as a principal in the law firm Singleton, Reeves, Bowzer and Huggins.
According to Laurie Aaron, Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Administrator, Reeves has suspended practicing law, and has decided to no longer be a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Reeves was succeeded as mayor in 2008 by E. Denise Simmons
E. Denise Simmons
E. Denise Simmons was the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts during the 2008-2009 term, and she was the first openly lesbian African-American mayor in the United States. The previous mayor of Cambridge, Kenneth Reeves, was the first openly gay African-American mayor in the United States...
, who became the first openly lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
African American mayor in the United States.
External links
- City of Cambridge: Office of the Mayor Official Site
- Interview with P.O.V PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
- Official Campaign Site
- Mayors Against Illegal Guns homepage