Springfield’s new political era is fruit of a long battle for fair representation (Viewpoint)

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As Springfield enters a new era — one in which both the City Council and the School Committee are, for the first time in the city’s history, composed predominantly of Black and Latino members — it is essential that we pause to reflect on how we got here.

This moment did not emerge naturally.

It did not happen by accident.

It is the direct result of a long, difficult and deliberate struggle for democracy and fair representation in a city where, for decades, communities of color were systematically shut out of political power.

In the mid-1990s, Springfield was governed entirely through an all at-large e