About five years ago, James “Jimmy” Hills started an impromptu livestream on Facebook to chat with community members about the COVID-19 pandemic and how it could disproportionately affect people of color in Boston.

The desire to engage with the community was natural for Hills. A native of the city who grew up in the Bromley-Heath Housing Development, Hills said he experienced bullying at a young age that fostered a commitment to advocacy . He later went on to work as a special assistant to Mayor Tom Menino and has done extensive work pushing public officials to take action to reduce street violence.

The interest was there when Hills started his livestream, and he returned to the microphone every day.

Now Hills, 54, is one of the most influential people in Boston, and “ Java with

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