Charles Yancey

Charles Yancey A70 was born and raised in Roxbury, a Boston neighborhood , and was educated by the Boston Public Schools System. His first brush with activism occurred when he was twelve years old, when, thanks to a letter he wrote to the city of Boston, a vacant lot in his community was turned into a park and playground. He graduated from Boston Technical High School, now the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science, one of three specifically college prep schools in the BPS. He participated in Upward Bound while at Boston Technical High School, and was an Upward Bound tutor throughout his time at Tufts. He also was active in the Afro-American Society, serving as the vice president in the 1967-1968 school year and president in the 1968-1969 school year. In these leadership roles he pushed the administration to take responsibility for recruiting Black students, rather than having student groups like SCAR do it, and helped gather funds for an Afro-American Cultural Center. Yancey also participated in the Ex College, developing and teaching a class on Black urban economics.

In 1969, Tufts contracted with Volpe Construction, a local construction company that hired very few Black workers, to build Lewis Hall. The Afro-American Society listed eight demands for the administration, including a demand that Volpe hire more Black workers and that Tufts work with the Afro-American Society to make sure Black workers were treated fairly. After Volpe refused to negotiate in good faith and the administration did not take action, the Afro-American Society organized a work stoppage. On November 5, 1969, 200 Black students from Tufts and other area schools blocked entrances to Lewis Hall and forced Volpe to call a no-work day. Tufts University then filed restraining orders against protest leaders, including Coleman. In response, 900 students at Tufts voted to go on strike. Negotiations between the administration and the Afro-American Society continued until November 14, when President Hallowell and Afro-American Society leaders released a memorandum of understanding, ending the strike.

Yancey graduated with a degree in economics in 1970 and went on to receive his MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government in 1991. He also received an honorary doctorate from Mount Ida College in 2001. After graduation, Yancey worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s urban finance division and helped found the Community for Human Rights. In 1983, Yancey ran for and won Boston’s District 4 city council seat, representing his childhood neighborhoods of Roxbury and Mattapan. Yancey won sixteen terms in the seat, serving on the Council for thirty-two years. During his time on Boston City Council, Yancey helped organize book fairs to provide free books to underserved Boston students, advocated for improving the high schools in Mattapan and other Black neighborhoods, and served as the second ever Council President. In 2013, Yancey ran for mayor on a platform that focused on limiting charter schools, better funding for public schools, and increased street workers to combat youth violence. Andrea Campbell succeeded Yancey in 2015. Yancey also has taught courses on government and policy at Bunker Hill Community College.

Biography written and researched by Cat Rosch.