The city of Detroit just showed up and showed out, making history after electing the city’s first Black woman mayor in the Black-majority city on (Nov. 4)! After a tight mayoral race between former City Council President Mary Sheffield and a local religious leader, the Rev. Solomon Kinlock Jr. of Triumph Church, Sheffield has officially taken the crown, and Black folks online are happy by the results.
As we previously told you, during her mayoral campaign, Sheffield pledged to improve public transportation, educational equity, and address gun violence. With all of these challenges being amongst the major challenges the city faces, her background as City Council President made it clear that Sheffield understood her constituents.
Now, after winning the election with 76,000 votes over Kinloch, Mary Sheffield will become the next Mayor of Detroit in January, succeeding Mayor Mike Duggan, who has been the city’s mayor for over a decade, according to CBS News.
In a live taping of the election results by CBS News, after her landslide victory, Mary Sheffield had this to say in her victory speech.
“To every Detroiter that voted for me tonight, whether you voted for me or not, I am here to listen to you, to fight for you, and to serve you, because at the end of the day, we all want the same thing: a Detroit that works for everyone,” she said. “Over the past 330 days, we built more than a campaign; we built a movement. A movement that has proven that we are strong when we all stand together.”
Sheffield’s historic win last night took over social media as Black folks online posted how happy they are that she will become Detroit’s mayor.
“Oh wow, this is beautiful!!! So much history being made tonight,” posted one user.
“And a Black woman at that. Let’s go,” added another user.
“This makes me smile WIDE!!! Look at God! VICTORY, MY DEAR SISTER!!! Amen!!! The D ROSE UP,” wrote another.
Sheffield’s win even had folks getting up out of their seat as user @violetikon posted Black voters in Detroit doing the electric slide to Cameo’s “Candy” at an election night party hosted at the MGM Grand Detroit, a casino hotel in the city.
But in the middle of all the celebration, users were still skeptical about the changes that Mary Sheffield will make in Detroit, and are just hoping for the best.
“Hope she keeps up the good work Duggan has done for the city. Detroit has improved immensely but still has significant room to grow,” commented @PaxMichigana.
“No more Big Gretch (Gov. Gretchen Whitmer)… I hope Mary makes a difference,” added another.
SOURCE: theroot.com