BOSTON (WHDH) - A large crowd came out to bid a final farewell to civil rights activist Mel King during his funeral on Tuesday at the Union United Methodist Church in the South End.
King, who died last month at the age of 94, was the first Black person to reach a Boston mayoral general election forty years ago. He also served in the state legislature, among other roles.
Both the church itself and a nearby park were packed as individuals watched the funeral on a large screen. Another screen was set up at City Hall.
Among those at the service was former Boston Mayor and City Councilor Kim Janey, who said she couldn’t have become Boston’s first Black and first woman mayor without King.
“I stand on Mel King’s strong shoulders as the first woman mayor, as the first black mayor to lead Boston and there is no question in my mind it is because of his work and what he has done,” Janey said.
Sen. Ed Markey recalled joining the state legislature with King 50 years ago, saying Mel King was to Boston what Martin Luther King was to the country.
“He was just an absolute fierce advocate for justice but in a non-violent way and no one, ultimately, could withstand the power of his message,” Markey said.
King led the fight for equality in Boston on many fronts, leading in ways both powerful and personal, as described at his funeral.
“His being a poet and a community person has made me who I am today,” said Cambridge Poet Populist Emeritus Toni Bee. “I wouldn’t be the poet populist emeritus of Cambridge if it wasn’t for Mel, I know it.”
King’s children and grandchildren were among those offering remembrances, as grandchild Xaivier Ringer recalled a meeting with Rev. Jesse Jackson.
“His eyes brightened when he introduced me as his granddaughter,” Ringer said of King.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Gov. Maura Healey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley all also spoke.
“Mel King didn’t just build our city up, he knit it together,” Wu said.
Healey said King “was a visionary who gave so much of himself to building a more just and equitable Boston.”
“His words will guide us on our path to justice and today he wears an eternal crown befitting the king he was. Rest in power,” Pressley said.
King’s death already prompted an outpouring of remembrances in recent weeks and days, including a wreath-laying at Boston City Hall on Monday and a series of lightings as local landmarks later Monday night.
The rainbow lights, which may be on display again on Tuesday night, are in recognition of King’s work to start the Rainbow Coalition Party in Massachusetts.
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