Talking Politics Full Episode: July 28, 2023

The 114th NAACP National Convention is now underway in Boston. In 1982, the last time the NAACP gathered here, the city was grappling with the aftermath of the busing crisis and an ongoing a series of hateful, violent attacks of Black residents. Today, Boston’s reputation isn’t much better nationally: witness comedian Michael Che’s declaration in 2017 that Boston is “the most racist city [he’s] ever been to.”

Locally, though, the perspective may be different. NAACP Boston head Tanisha Sullivan has said she’s hoping this convention will serve as a chance to reintroduce Boston to Black America. And former state Rep. Byron Rushing, who became one of Boston’s best-known Black political figures during a career that spanned nearly four decades and now heads the Roxbury Historical Society, says the city has changed substantially since the NAACP’s last visit. He joins Adam Reilly to discuss gains that have been made and problems that still need to be addressed.

Then, a look at a strange political event and what it could signal for the next mayoral race in Boston. The Dorchester Reporter’s Gin Dumcius recently reported on an event slated for the Cape Cod home of George Regan, owner of a public relations company. The shindig in question was billed partly as a fundraiser for Boston City Council President Ed Flynn; partly as a birthday party for his father, former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn; and partly as the launch of a campaign called “Save Our City.”

The campaign was seemingly aimed, in part, at galvanizing opposition to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s reelection in 2025. The elected officials scheduled to attend promptly distanced themselves from “Save Our City,” and Regan said no such campaign actually exists.

Still, the abortive launch raises some questions that had been simmering below the surface in Boston political circles without much public discussion. If Wu does, in fact, seek a second term in two years, will she run unopposed or face an opponent? And if she does get a challenge, will it come from the right or the left?

Adam is joined by Dumcius and Yawu Miller, the former senior editor of the Bay State Banner, for a very early look at how the 2025 campaign might unfold.

And finally, as a candidate for governor, Maura Healey vowed she’d break with her predecessors by not claiming to be exempt from the state’s public records law. In the corner office, though, she’s walked that back, citing the existing legal exemption on her public records request page and saying she’ll consider requests on a case-by-case basis — a policy that hews pretty closely to her predecessor, Charlie Baker.

What type of materials has Healey holding back? And will there be any political consequences for her reversal? Adam is joined by Axios Boston’s Mike Deehan, who recently took stock of the governor’s transparency record after six months on the job.

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