Melvin ‘Mel’ Herbert King, Sr. was a community leader, political activist, youth advocate, author, songwriter, and an educator. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a Guyanese mother and Barbadian father. Mel lived an extraordinary 94 years to March 28, 2023.
Mr. King is well-known for his role in fighting for affordable housing and services battling against commercial developers and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) from1968. His elected service in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for a decade boosted his aspiration to be Mayor of Boston. While his campaign for that position, and for Congress, did not bring the desired results, a decisive political strategy was impressive in affecting the political status quo. He established the Rainbow Coalition Party which has now become the Green-Rainbow Party.
A parallel feature of his lifestyle was in formal education. Mr. King was an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – 1971 to 1996 and established the Community Fellows Program in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Upon retirement Mel King founded the South End Technology Center @ Tent City, a joint venture between MIT and the Tent City Corporation, to improve community and youth access to technology.
His passionate and dynamic commitment to community development was demonstrated in multiple initiatives. The partnerships expanded youth education through collaborations with prominent academic institutions. Arts and cultural expression were encouraged by his authorship about the Black experience and personal awareness through written poetry . A combination of these interests had a definitive impact on an innovative urban community program in 2014.
Mr. King’s insightful philanthropy was unmistakable. He was the contributor of upscale computer technology resources well beyond the request from a new youth music education program in Boston. He endorsed the visionary approach of providing rigorous music theory instruction electronically using the steelpan as a standard musical instrument. The distance eLearning teaching method in the student electronic tutoring mode is a fused education training technique that bridged spaces in education and culture. It was a precursor to today’s identical virtual music teaching practice now in use globally.
Another significant contribution was his characteristic personal modus operandi in many aspects of his life. He was aware that one of his PhD mentees was actively designing digital devices. The attention to electronic elements in education appeared similar to those of the steelpan music educator’s eLearning template. Mel King saw a connection in their work, introduced them, and a fostered a relation that developed a unique contemporary teaching device.
It was this general approach of aligning the energies of others to attain goals of common desire that define him as an outstanding cultural enabler.
Reflection on his lifelong accomplishments in various domains confirm a distinctive profile of a successful achiever. Many meaningful undertakings are distinguished for the goals attained from his inspirations and leadership impact.
Mel King will forever be an exemplary living model.
“Remembering Mel”, the funeral obituary, is a source of some information in this tribute by Ronald H. Lammy.