From LeBron to Legend, celebs praise Mayor-elect Karen Bass: ‘CONGRATULATIONS QUEEN!’
LeBron James and other notables have offered congratulations to Karen Bass: ‘CONGRATULATIONS QUEEN!’
It’s been nearly four years since Karen Bass took office as a new city of Miami mayor and four years since she was crowned the city’s first African-American mayor.
She’s been a whirlwind of positive change for the city’s African-American community – moving from being the city’s only elected black female representative to being an activist and unafraid to use her newfound power to do things her way.
“I am very blessed to be a part of this process,” Bass told Miami New Times in an interview two years before she took office. “I came into office as a city council member and a community activist – and I’m still doing that.”
“I’m going to be very active in the community, not going to the community that I’ve worked in for 25 years when I was on the council,” she said. “And so I am very happy to report that I am part of the community and I’m part of the growth and the prosperity in our city.”
Bass took her oath of office at City Hall, to her surprise, in front of a crowd of nearly 500 people, many of whom are descendants of slaves and others who took part in the slave trade. Bass was born in South Carolina, but her family moved to Massachusetts where she was born in 1921. When she was eight, her family escaped to Boston, where Bass grew up and graduated from Boston University in engineering science.
“My mother always said I just love change, and I can say she changed my mind,” Bass told Miami New Times.
“When I was in Miami, one of the things that helped me to get up in the morning and do a great job was I felt like I was a part of the community,” she said. “It was just about making sure the city was going in the right direction.”
After graduating from BU with a degree in mechanical engineering, Bass went to work in the industry, where she found even more change. She became a union organizer, which has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
“I met very,
