Mayor Michelle Wu was a big Boston booster in her State of the City speech Wednesday night, touting programs and giving shout-outs to residents doing their part to make the Hub better. But it was the folks who didn’t get a nod who stood out.

“Just last week,” Wu said, “I joined Ms. Annie at the Fairlawn Estates in Mattapan — where she’s lived for fifty years. And for the last six, she led her tenant association battling rent hikes and evictions intended to gentrify her community — and she won. Together, with CityLife/Vida Urbana, Related Beal, and our Housing Acquisition Fund partners, we were able to protect all 347 homes and make them permanently affordable.”

A massive win by Ms. Annie and company, to be sure. But what of Jean McGuire, the Boston civil rights icon who’s fighting for her Roxbury neighborhood? That part of the city isn’t facing gentrification, it’s part of a $200 million public-private plan to rehab White Stadium for a women’s pro soccer team.

“Four years ago, BPS student athletes were left with a sports facility that was rarely open and had been crumbling for four decades. Today, we are renovating White Stadium into a world-class athletics hub guaranteed for BPS students, coaches, and residents 15 hours a day, more than 345 days of the year. And I will never stop fighting for what our city kids deserve,” said Wu.

Wu and Boston Unity Soccer Partners believe our city kids deserve a tear down and rehab of White Stadium so it can become the home of a National Women’s Soccer League Expansion team. Kids will benefit as well, but they could benefit from a straight overhaul of the stadium solely for public use, a deal that would cost a fraction of the professional stadium price.

Wu didn’t mention the pro soccer team, the bid for a franchise, nor the controversy around the deal, one in which Boston taxpayers would cover at least $91 million of the costs. The city has already signed a 10-year lease agreement even as opponents to the plan duke it out in court.

McGuire, 93, is a past civil rights leader, ex-School Committee member and one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that’s trying to stop the project. She spoke in court this week about her connection to Franklin Park.

McGuire said she’s been going to the park “all my life,” describing the area as “beautiful” and family-friendly, an atmosphere she sees as being threatened by the prospect of a new professional women’s soccer team moving into White Stadium.

“It would be difficult for people who don’t live in the area to really pile in here,” McGuire said. “There’s nowhere to park.”

McGuire isn’t alone in this fight; other plaintiffs include the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and a group of 20 park neighbors. Mayor Wu didn’t mention them either in her speech.

The administration loves a good activist for the city, as long as they don’t get in the way of the mayor’s pet project.

“To be a home for everyone, we must be the best city for families, and there’s more work to do,” said Wu.

That includes families and residents who’d be impacted by the big plans for White Stadium, the ones who are standing up to preserve their neighborhoods.

That kind of tough, tenacious Boston spirit is worthy of recognition. It’s part of what makes this city great.

Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)