Bill Owens, first Black state senator in Massachusetts, dies at 84
"No one was better positioned to lead than Bill Owens," said Sen. Ed Markey, who considered him a mentor.
A historic figure in Massachusetts politics, Bill Owens was the first Black candidate elected to the state Senate during a career in which he was ahead of his time with proposals such as calling for governments to pay reparations to the descendants of enslaved Black Americans.
Mr. Owens, who served one term as a state representative before spending several terms in the Senate, was 84 when he died Saturday in a skilled nursing facility in Brighton. He had moved there a few months earlier from his longtime home in Mattapan as his health was failing, and more recently he tested positive for COVID-19, his family said.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu tweeted that she was “heartbroken” to hear that Mr. Owens had died. The legacy of his barrier-breaking election to the Senate “lives on in our work to serve every community & in the continued fight for racial equality,” she said.
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