City council candidates from Districts 4 and 7 made one of their last pushes to distinguish themselves before voters take to the polls on Tuesday for the preliminary municipal elections. At a candidates’ forum Thursday hosted by the Black Economic Justice Institute (BEJI), they spoke before an enthusiastic crowd at the Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library.

All three active candidates from District 4 attended: Defending 32-year councillor Charles Yancey; his repeat challenger, long-time community activist Terrance Williams; and newcomer Andrea Campbell, running a much-watched grassroots campaign on a platform of responsiveness and accessibility.

Yancey, clearly comfortable with the crowd, opened his introductory and closing statements with “My name is Charles Yancey,” and “I am a son of Roxbury.” He and his statements were greeted with enthusiastic cheers. As he has throughout the campaign, Yancey leaned on his track record as the longest sitting councillor, listing as accomplishments the district police station, library, and state of the art facilities.

Campbell’s campaign largely hinges on her personal story. Speaking first, as Yancey arrived midway through introductory statements, Campbell reiterated her neighborhood credentials at the forum, with her Mattapan upbringing and Boston Public School background, losing her father, who had a history of incarceration, and the death of her twin brother while in pre-trial detention.

“I've grown up poor and on public assistance and in affordable housing,” she said. She aims to be “a voice on the council with the same emotion and the same feelings they have while going through these problems."

Tito Jackson, the ebullient District 7 councillor, spoke alongside against four of his five competitors. Former State Rep. Althea Garrison was not present at the forum, her chair standing empty between candidates Roy Owens, a pro-life advocate, and Kevin Dwire, a strong supporter of workers’ rights. Charles Clemons, co-founder TOUCH 106.1 and also known as Brother Clemons, was the first candidate to arrive at the forum. Rounding out the bunch was community activist Haywood Fennell Sr.

The District 7 candidates have all previously run for the seat, and some at the forum expressed concern that unsuccessful repeat contenders would be negatively colored by their attempts.

From the start, the tone was urgent, with organizers and candidates speaking broadly about what is at stake for black residents of Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Roslindale, and Boston as a whole.

“We’re staying in position too long, black Boston,” said Priscilla Flint, co-founder of BEJI. Co-founder Brother Lo Banks greeted members of the institute’s board, one of whom, Williams, is running for election.

Jackson pointed out that the only two districts facing a preliminary election are held by black men. The extreme wage and life-expectancy disparities in his district are unacceptable, he said, and "Young men are killing themselves because they're broke."

Thursday’s forum did not run as efficiently as some in the crowd seemed to hope, with impatient calls ringing out as BEJI leaders went over rules of order -- essentially, be respectful, please.

Only four questions were asked, and time constraints reduced candidate's’ response allotments from two minutes each to 45 seconds for the last three questions.

Some responses bordered on non-sequiturs. Owens, introducing himself, said his organization has been fighting “to stop the City of Boston from closing down churches on Sundays to promote rock and roll.” He condemned the proliferation of irresponsible entertainment and spoke out against abortions.

The pay raise dispute was mentioned only once, offhandedly, by Clemons during a discussion on whether councils should maintain a neighborhood office. Jackson said the offices were important, and he had one initially before being forced to close it down for financial reasons. He has since opened a new one, he said. Clemons said the current salary of $87,500 is more than enough to afford a local office, prompting guffaws from the crowd.

The candidates all put forth some kind of opposition to the powers that be, whether that be the City -- Jackson said he strongly opposed the Olympics “so money doesn’t go out the door” and fought for transparency, pledging to continue speaking truth to power -- the existing councillors, or even the nature of bureaucracy and inequality itself. Fennell, after the forum, told the Reporter “this election is bigger than the council. It’s about the unseen and unknown forces that control wealth... to our detriment.”

Clemons pointed specifically to current leadership as the problem. “You ever wonder why those other districts don’t have any opposers?” he asked. “It’s because they’re satisfied. We are dissatisfied with the leadership that we have, and it’s time for change.”

Advocating independent action, Dwire spoke in support of union involvement and the role of youths in enacting change. “We don’t start with the oppression,” he said. Rather, he said, start with the conviction that engaged youths, particularly those of color, are the ones rolling the ball of progress forward.

Again stressing his history of community service, Williams stuck to his bottom-up improvement plans, focusing on the young people left adrift. “Our kids are worth more than a tier, and you’re tearing up the community by not educating them,” he said, to cheers. After the forum, Williams told the Reporter that he wished he could have elaborated on his advocacy on behalf of elders, who are “really struggling.”

The event closed on Yancey, whose laudatory statements regarding former councillor Chuck Turner drew whoops from the crowd. "Real leadership means real results," he said. Campbell, in a rare moment of semi-direct confrontation earlier in the forum, threw out an alternate definition on leadership: accessibility, and “more importantly, they should show up. Not just for pictures and media appearances, “ she said.