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Cherelle Parker wins Democratic Mayoral Primary in Philadelphia

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Could become first Black woman to lead city

By Kristina Dixon | Across Black America

Former Pennsylvania state representative and Philadelphia City Council member Cherelle  Parker has won the Democratic nomination for Philadelphia mayor.

If she wins the general election in November, she will become the first Black woman to lead the city. Her campaign has been controversial as she  has run on a ‘promise to increase the number of police in the racially  segregated city,’ and bring back constitutional “stop-and-frisk.” Parker,  50, was the only Black candidate and appears to have a great chance of  becoming mayor, as Philadelphia is more than 40% Black, according  to the New York Times.

Still, many have drawn comparison to New York’s Mayor Eric Adams,  who, though Black, has supported what some deem as harmful  legislation that disproportionately criminalizes Black and Brown  people. However, the excitement around what Parker’s win could  mean for Black women in politics has not been dimmed.

“It’s really exciting because it’s another glass ceiling that’s broken.  Women and Black women especially have always been  underappreciated,” said Catherine Hicks, president of the Philadelphia  chapter of the NAACP. Among some of Parker’s other campaign  promises are a proposition to extend school days from 7:30 a.m. to 6  p.m. and a plan to work with state leaders to significantly increase the  minimum wage.

Parker claims that her plans to tackle issues are focused on the  “middle neighborhoods”—working and middle-class areas that have  been struggling in recent years to hold off decline—insisting that she is  simply responding to what she’s been told from the community.

“They  know it’s not Cherelle engaging in what I call ‘I know what’s best for you people’ policymaking, but it’s come from the ground up,” Parker said. She believes that solutions should come from the  people of Philadelphia and “not people thinking they’re coming in to  save poor people, people who never walked in their shoes or lived in a  neighborhood with high rates of violence and poverty. I’ve lived that.”

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