Bruce Bolling

Portrait of Bruce Bolling, 1980s

Bruce C. Bolling (April 29, 1945 – September 11, 2012) was a politician and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as the first black president of the Boston City Council in the mid-1980s.

Biography

Bolling was educated at Boston English High School; Northeastern University; and Cambridge College. He is from "the city's most politically successful black family. His father, Royal Bolling Sr., was a state senator and his brother, Royal Jr., served as state representative."^[1]

Around 1980 he worked "in the administration of Mayor Kevin White in a variety of capacities, including positions in the Office of Public Safety and as a manager of a Little City Hall."^[2] Beginning in 1981 he served on the Boston City Council, acting as its president 1986-1987 -- "the first Black elected president of the Boston City Council."^[3] He ran for mayor in 1993.^[4]

From 2000 until his death he was director of MassAlliance, a firm specializing in small business development.^[5][6]

Bolling died of cancer on September 11, 2012.^[7] He was 67.

References

1. Bruce C. Bolling. Boston Globe, Aug 5, 1993. pg. 32.
2. Boston Globe, Aug 5, 1993. pg. 32.
3. Jet 84, no.12 (July 19, 1993): p.29.
4. Bruce Bolling. Boston Globe, Sep 19, 1993. pg. 7
5. Boston Globe, May 27, 2000. pg. A.15
6. http://www.massalliance.com/about.htm Retrieved 2010-03-31
7. Bruce Bolling, first black president of Boston City Council, dies at 67. Boston Globe Online,

Further reading

Publications by Bolling

• Plan to benefit South Boston betrays the idea of linkage. Boston Globe, May 27, 2000. p. A.15.
• Fear, disrespect go together; Let's diminish both. Boston Globe, Jan 2, 1993. p. 11.
• Op Ed: What I've learned from my experience. Boston Herald, Dec 30, 1992. p. 021.

Publications about Bolling

• Margot Hornblower. "Boston's new Council president reflects shift in race relations; Bruce Bolling and family making mark on politics." Washington Post, 16 January 1986: A3.
• Christopher J. Daly. "With the slamming of a taxi door, race issue reverberates in Boston." Washington Post, 25 December 1992. (Controversy over taxi driver refusing to drive black City Councilman Bruce Bolling home to Roxbury neighborhood).

External links

• http://bostonlocaltv.org/blog/2014/04/bruce-bolling/