The city of Philadelphia made history on Tuesday, January 2 after it swore in its 100th mayor, a Black woman named Cherelle Parker.
Parker is the first female and first Black woman to hold the post, succeeding Jim Kenney after winning the mayoral election last November.
Sources told PBS Philly affiliate WHYY that Parker was sworn in privately on Monday (January 1) ahead of Tuesday's public formal inauguration to close a potential gap in governance, without further elaborating on the matter.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia schools safety chief Kevin Bethel was also sworn in as the city's new police commissioner, and fire commissioner Adam Thiel was named the city's next managing director.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Parker released an action plan for the first 100 days of her administration, further saying that she would declare a public security emergency.
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Who is Cherelle Parker?
Little was known about Parker's childhood but revealed in her inauguration speech that she came from a single-mother background and was the first person in her family to finish college.
Her career began at the age of 17 when she won a high school oration contest. The prize for the win was a trip to Senegal and Morocco, as well as an internship with Philadelphia City Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, whom she would go on to work for around 15 years.
In 2005, Parker became the youngest African American woman elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing northwest Philadelphia for 10 years. During her time there, she worked to increase funding to Philly's public schools, cap increases on property taxes, fight payday lenders, and strengthen the cases of victims of sexual violence.
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