Recently, Amazon — in search of a second North American headquarters — released its list of city finalists. New York City, Atlanta, and Newark (among others) made the cut. Baltimore and Detroit did not — even though Maryland dangled in front of the company the biggest set of tax subsidies it’s ever offered.

Much has been written about the troubling dynamics between cities and corporations like Amazon. What has been less explored is the relationship between cities’ feverish attempts to lure Amazon and the changing landscape of urban black politics.

Following the passage of the Voting Rights Act — arguably the Civil Rights Movement’s most powerful victory — there was a sharp increase in black elected officials in general and black mayors most specifically. For a brief moment in the seventies, when city governments exerted a significant amount of political power not just locally but at the state and national level, these elections mattered.