A history of Black candidates running to be Bostonâs mayor By Meghan E. Irons Globe Staff,Updated April 5, 2021, 2 hours ago Email to a Friend Mel King marched in the Columbus Day parade in 1983 during his mayoral campaign in which he lost to Kevin White.joe dennehy She said she was a âblipâ in Black Bostonâs mayoral history, barely a reference in the record books. But Deahdra Butler-Henderson, then a single mother from Jamaica Plain, took one small step in a long march through history for Black representation in City Hall when she began her impossible campaign for mayor i...