Kenneth Allen Gibson was an American politician of the Democratic Party who was the 36th mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1970 to 1986. He was the first African-American mayor of a major city in the Northeastern United States. Kenneth Allen Gibson was an American politician of the Democratic Party who was the 36th mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1970 to 1986. He was the first African-American mayor of a major city in the Northeastern United States.