Nothing against Tom Menino, but the Legislature’s plan to name the Seaport convention center after the beloved late Boston mayor is missing a big opportunity to do something bold and symbolic for the city.
The convention center, plagued by reports of recent racial discrimination, should be named after someone like civil rights icons Jean McGuire or Mel King.
McGuire, 92, a former Boston teacher and School Committee member and civil rights leader who survived a knife attack in Franklin Park several years ago, is just as revered as Menino and would be a better choice to get the highly coveted convention center naming rights.
The late King was the first Black candidate to make it to the final mayoral election and helped heal a city troubled by a long history of racism.
It would be an opportune time for lawmakers to recognize Boston’s changing face by honoring a Black civil rights leader. Especially for the convention center, which an independent report from a law firm commissioned by the MCCA showed has a history of discriminating against Black workers and vendors.
Menino, who died 10 years ago, was a great guy and great mayor who helped build the now gleaming Seaport into a thriving neighborhood but he also has a number of places in Boston already named after him.
There is the Menino YMCA in Hyde Park, the Menino park and playground in West Roxbury, a Menino park in Charlestown and a Menino Pavilion at Boston Medical Center. The late mayor who served longer than any other mayor in Boston history will certainly never be forgotten. Menino was known for plastering his name on every welcome to Boston sign in the city – a tradition that other Boston mayors have continued to carry out.
The convention center in the Seaport is really the last major place or destination that doesn’t have someone named after it – and it’s a big one. Thousands of visitors from around the world convene at the convention center every year.
In addition to her work as an educator and civic activist, McGuire helped launch Metco, the state-funded program that gives Boston school kids a chance to attend better-performing schools in the suburbs. She was Metco executive director for more than 40 years and worked with thousands of students.
“It’s not just kids going to school,” McGuire said in a Boston Globe interview this year. “You’re part of a community.”
King’s historic campaign for mayor in 1983 helped bridge the divide between white and black voters. He didn’t win but served as a state representative for ten years until 1983. King, who early in his life was a community activist, died in 2023 at age 94.
Wouldn’t it be an opportune time for Democratic lawmakers — instead of making their usual old boys network decisions behind closed doors with no public input — to reward a former colleague like King or an icon like McGuire instead of just going for a former politician like they always do?
Imagine the NAACP coming to hold an event at the Jean McGuire Convention and Exhibition Center? It could be a chance to make a major statement about where the city is headed.
Both McGuire and King have long histories of serving the underserved in Boston. They were Boston through and through.
No offense to Menino.
But before we name another monument to a politicians, isn’t it time to take a big step forward and show people just how far Boston has come?
