The city of Cambridge made history this month when it elected the nation's first African-American, openly lesbian mayor. E. Denise Simmons took the reins from Kenneth Reeves, an African-American who was also openly gay.

Simmons, a Cambridge native, has been a community activist for close to three decades, serving on the school committee for nine years and the city council since 2002. The city council elects the mayor.

"I think it's a profound privilege and responsibility," Simmons said. "I have the work of the community ahead of me, but as black woman and someone who is openly gay, I also represent a larger community."

Simmons was the only the second African-American woman to serve on the Cambridge City Council. Boston has yet to elect an African-American woman to its city council. Read more.