James Kelly came to Seattle from his native Illinois in 1976, and received a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Washington in 1980. Kelly worked as an investigator for Washington State Child Protective Services, and in the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, before being appointed by Governor Booth Gardner to head the newly created Commission on African-American Affairs in 1989. In 1996, he became the Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, and in 1998 was selected to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Economic Services Administration. In 1999, Kelly accepted the position of President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, a position he held until his retirement in 2011.

In late 1988, activists in Seattle's Black community threatened the possiblity of a Black boycott of Seattle Public Schools after test scores revealed a substantial gap in achievement between white and Black students. This photo shows James Kelly, then a board member of the Seattle branch of the Black Child Development Institute, and the spokesmen for the Black activist coaltion, speaking at a press conference at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Kelly clarified that a boycott would be a last resort, after district programs to address the achievement gap in the coming months have been monitored.

Caption information sources: "A Black Boycott of Schools? Seattle's Achievemnet Gap Between Races Angers Activist Group," Seattle Times, November 30, 1988, p. A1; "Black Boycott of Schools is Only a Last Resort," Seattle TImes, December 6, 1988, p. G3.
Caption information source: "James Kelly" at BlackPast.org website at https://www.blackpast.org/author/kellyjames/.