Battenfeld: Mayoral candidate Mel King was ahead of his time, influenced generations

Mel King was way ahead of his time – his breakthrough as a mayoral finalist in 1983 came decades before Boston finally elected its first non-white mayor. The civil rights activist paved the way and influenced generations of other Black politicians and progressives, including current Mayor Michelle Wu, the city’s first Asian American chief executive. They all owe a debt of gratitude to King, who will be memorialized on Tuesday in a funeral service at Union United Methodist Church in the South End. King leaves a legacy of being a...