Anticipating Backlash, Mayor-Elect Changes Name To Keith Ida B. Wells

Portland elected its new mayor last week. Once the ranked choice ballots were tallied and executed, the consensus choice was political outsider Keith Wilson. In a surprise first act, the mayor-elect took swift and drastic action to mitigate potential backlash to his name.⁣
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“Listen Portland, it’s still me, Keith – the trucking CEO you all know and love,” he assured his constituents. “Only now my last name is Ida B. Wells. Same guy, same ambitious plan to end unsheltered homelessness in a year despite not getting a vote on City Council, different last name to avoid any trouble. Are we good? Am I doing this right?” ⁣
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Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a Black investigative journalist, civil rights leader, suffragette and founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). ⁣
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In January of 2021, following the racial justice movement sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police, the Southwest Portland high school formerly named in honor of problematic President Woodrow Wilson was renamed after Ida B. Wells. ⁣
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Armed with his new surname, fresh ideas, the mandate of a majority of voters and twelve new City Council members, Keith Ida B. Wells will look to lead Portland into the future.