LYNN — Keisha Whitaker, a Lynn native and former wife of actor Forest Whitaker, has announced that she is endorsing Michael Satterwhite in his candidacy for mayor of the city.
Whitaker, who now lives in Los Angeles, said that she knows Satterwhite’s family from her time growing up in the city and feels that he is the best choice for the office.
“He seems very motivated,” she said. “He wants to bring the community together.”
The model and actress went to school in Lynn, graduating from Classical High School before moving on to Endicott College, and said that she has pride in her hometown; she often corrects those who say she is from Boston.
“I grew up in Lynn and I believe in the city. I see the upward growth of it,” she said. “It gets a bad reputation ― ‘Lynn, Lynn, city of sin, you never come out the way you came in.'”
However, she said that every other place she has ever been has problems and controversies too, and that she believes Satterwhite can improve Lynn.
“What he stands for is a really good example of the products of a city that I think is thriving. It’s on its way to recovering,” Whitaker said. “Obviously, there are problems, but there are also problems here in LA, in Beverly Hills. Same problems, just different zip codes.”
Satterwhite said that he appreciates Whitaker’s support, especially because the two can relate to each other’s life stories of “breaking the cycle.”
“She may be living in Los Angeles now, but she has family in Lynn still, and so what happens here actually impacts her,” he said. “People from Lynn have to work five times harder than other places … and when we make it, that’s so much more of a blessing. I’d love to see more people end up like me and Keisha, and that’s why I’m running for mayor.”
Satterwhite, who currently sits on the Lynn School Committee, is running against fellow committee member Jared Nicholson and City Council President Darren Cyr.
The preliminary municipal election will be held Sept. 14. The two candidates with the highest number of votes will be on the ballot for the Nov. 2 city election.
