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Boston launches office, commission on Black male advancement

City Councilor Tito Jackson at a City Hall meeting in May 2016. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
City Councilor Tito Jackson at a City Hall meeting in May 2016. Jackson initially proposed the Office for Black Male Advancement several years ago. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Boston has launched a new city office and commission to ensure that Black men and boys have equitable access to opportunities in the city.

Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu said in an announcement Thursday that the Mayor’s Office for Black Male Advancement will work to “improve outcomes and reduce systemic barriers to advancement” for Black men and boys.

“From economic inequality, healthcare disparities, graduation rates and life expectancy, it is clear that Black men and boys in our city have not been fully included in Boston’s prosperity,” Tito Jackson, a former city councilor who first proposed the idea several years ago, said in a statement.

Frank Farrow, a Boston native who served on Wu’s mayoral campaign, will serve as inaugural executive director for the office, which was created by an ordinance approved last year.

Wu said the office will also support the newly-formed Black Men and Boys Commission, which will consist of 21 members and is accepting applications through the end of the month.

Among other things, the commission is charged with designing projects and programs that promote equity for Black men and boys, working to assure that Black men and boys are represented at all levels of city government and working with city agencies on state and federal legislation and programs of concern to Black men.

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