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Q: How do you see the current state of black politics, on a local level?

A: I think the state of black politics is important to look at from more than one perspective. If you’re talking about electoral politics, the folks there work hard at coming up with things that meet the needs or are in the interest of folks of color. You know, pushing for closing the achievement gap in the schools, pushing for the jobs, pushing against the bio lab and those things which have their impact. They’re there. They’re working. And I think that what also is interesting is that with Chuck Turner and Felix Arroyo, there’s this movement with what we call the New Majority, bringing the communities of color together to begin to make the city work for everybody. I really like being a part of that. You know, what I say is, individually we have powerful cultures, and what we need to be about is developing a culture of power.

So I think they play appropriate leadership roles. I would like for the clergy to be as outspoken on those issues which impact adversely on the community.

Q: Why do you think they’re not?

A: I don’t know. They’d have to be asked. We asked them to participate in this achievement-gap stuff and we haven’t heard [from] or seen them. We had this March to Abolish Poverty, and we have yet to see or hear from them, but some of the black elected officials showed. So I think that [the black politicians] work hard, they’re working in some difficult times, with limited resources supposedly; whether or not I agree with them on all issues or not is not as important. Look at the way the folks took on the redistricting issue. So they’re there. They work hard.

Q: Tell me about last month’s March to Abolish Poverty.

A: It’s a march that came from a couple of groups, with a major focus coming from the Green-Rainbow Party. The idea is that with 29 cities and towns where the incidence of children living in poverty is high, we believe that we should be mobilizing as we did in Massachusetts to abolish slavery, to abolish this kind of economic stranglehold on people. So we had these marches in towns and cities across the state, from New Bedford to out in Springfield, Worcester, and ending up with a hearing at City Hall, which was very, very powerful and important. Didn’t get any press coverage. When people whose incomes are low decide to act and take over City Hall and disrupt, then there’ll be some publicity. But when people systematically try and point to an issue that is having a very devastating effect on people in the state, they’re ignored.

Q: Say you had a genie in a bottle and got three wishes for the city of Boston. What would they be?

A: The first would be that our youth understand that they have the power to make this city work better for everybody. Second, that persons of color understand that they, too, have the power to make this city work for everybody, and that they act in that way. Finally, I think what would be important would be to deal with the combination of our schools and employment. I think the critical piece is to close the achievement gap. It can be done.

Q: Looking back on the decades that you’ve spent as a politician and an activist, what are you most proud of?

A: Well, first I want to correct that. I’m 75 years of age, and I’ve been an activist for 75 years, in politics. So, you want the last 10 years? The 10 years before that I was in the legislature. The 10 years before that I worked on street corners. Which one? I mean, I can go in bunches of 10 years.

Q: Okay. So in the last 10 years, what are you most proud of?

A: I would say two things. One is, an understanding that love is the question and the answer. And second, that a hug is a great gift, one size fits all, and it’s easy to exchange. That I saw on a road sign in Tennessee, and I think that’s a great piece of learning.

Q: On the flip side, what have you been most disappointed by?

A: I think the war. The gullibility. You know the song, "President’s got his war/folks don’t know what he’s fighting for/has no rhyme or reason"? I think the failure of people to ask questions is a big, big disappointment.

Q: How do you feel about how much the South End has changed over the decades you’ve lived there? I would think you must walk down the street sometimes and not recognize it.

A: That’s not so. I recognize it. I’m here all the time; I see what’s happening. I see people that are different, I see people that have been here awhile. I see garbage in places where there was garbage before; I see places where there isn’t any garbage anymore. I see struggles like the folks on East Canton Street trying to maintain their housing. I see people struggling and winning. I look at Tent City and places where folks are working hard to maintain access for people. I see that that is a major part of this neighborhood. I’ve grown up where we’ve watched different groups of people come in, different racial, ethnic, cultural groups. Now we still have racial, ethnic, cultural groups moving in. And we have people now who have more money than the people who were here 30, 40 years ago. But there is still a vibrant spirit of the people. I’ve never believed that a physical environment was the critical aspect of change.

Q: You’re going to be speaking on a panel about diversity at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. How important is it that this subject continues to be discussed?

A: I think it’s always important that we try to understand who we are, and what we are. So I think that any dialogues that get people to think of those issues is valuable. I think that we should not allow them to diffuse our interest in economic, environmental, justice issues. I think it’s important to have these discussions, but there are discussions about the air and water and employment and education that require people coming together to resolve.

Q: You’re 75 years old. Do you see yourself slowing down?

A: I can’t catch up to the tennis balls as easily as I used to.

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years? What do you see yourself doing?

A: I don’t worry about that. I worry about how we make this place happen tonight, tomorrow, et cetera. What would I like to be doing? I hope to be able to catch up to the tennis ball.

Mel King appears at "The New Face of Diversity: Rethinking Community" at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education at 56 Brattle Street in Harvard Square, on April 28 and May 1. Call (617) 547-6789 ext. 1, or visit www.ccae.org. Tamara Wieder can be reached at twieder[a]phx.com