What was billed as an afternoon with two brand-new young, progressive mayors recently elected to serve two of the blackest cities in America quickly turned into a perfect example of how new ideas, radical thinking and a new guard of black leadership are changing the political landscape for African-American voters.

Randall Woodfin believes any political revolution that takes off across the nation starts in cities like his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., where he is running as a progressive candidate for mayor. Sure, Donald Trump literally encouraged local police to abuse people in their custody, but the people with real power to…