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NYC’s First and Only Black Mayor, David Dinkins, Dies at 93
He leaves behind a legacy of quiet and fundamental civil rights work in the mayor’s office
David N. Dinkins, who New York City voters elected as mayor in 1989, died Monday, November 23, in his home, according to an obituary in the New York Daily News.
Dinkins was the first and only Black mayor elected so far in New York City and leaves behind a legacy of quiet and fundamental civil rights work in the mayor’s office.
During his time in office, he proposed ideas like a civilian-run police oversight agency and marched with a gay Irish group in the 1991 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. He also established the African Burial Ground Committee, which helped navigate the discovery of more than 400 graves of free and enslaved Africans. (The project was taken over by the federal government, which funded a monument.)
Read more about Dinkins’ life in the Daily News’ obituary:
