What other major US city had as much independent Black political control for as long as Detroit had it?

(Atlanta's the only other 21st century comparison, but the political situation was different, and the city was never abandoned by its White elite.) https://twitter.com/TheMikeTre/status/1329859691304923138

I don't speak about other cities. Local contexts are different, but imagine my shock traveling around this country... talking to Black folks from coast to coast... and learning how ODD my hometown is.

I thought other "Black" cities had our amount of local control. And... no.

We had a Black mayor from 1974 until 2014. Growing up, when I learned that other cities had Black mayors, I assumed it was the same thing. A Black city.

When I got to Philly, Black folks here told me a Black mayor allowed the cops to drop a bomb on them.

And I was horrified.

Coleman Young was something else, but I tried to imagine ANY scenario where he dropped a bomb on a Black neighborhood.

I remember when the MOVE bombing happened. I was 8. But I was just a kid, and don't remember much about how it was reported in Detroit. Just my folks cussin.

When I first got here, I assumed Philly was more like Detroit than it actually is.

I love Philly. But the history is different.

(Making the same error in my worldbuilding - a corrupt Black magical elite makes perfect sense from my Detroit POV, but confuses other readers.)

It wasn't just that we had a Black mayor. The majority of White Detroiters left the city in the 60s & 70s. It was more than 80% Black when I was growing up. It's still 70% Black.

Black people either controlled most major institutions or at least weren't barred from them.