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(BALTIMORE – September 13, 2025) – I have heard about all I care to regarding Don Lemon coming to Baltimore. And no — I’m not talking about the supporters of my impromptu interview where the camera was actually flipped on me. I appreciate my fellow Baltimoreans who understood the interaction in its entirety. For those with the emotional intelligence to comprehend the stakes at play, I thank you for seeing through the chicanery and grasping my response in full.
For one, I have platforms of my own. I don’t need Mr. Lemon’s platforms to speak about the Governor or the Mayor. As a matter of fact, I’ve had both of their phone numbers for years. If I wanted to say something to them, I would call them directly. Where I come from, that is called respect.
Number two, if a person disagrees with my response — that the National Guard is not needed in Baltimore — that is their prerogative. But what stings most is when people, who hold a different opinion (in this case, those who believe President Donald Trump should indeed send the National Guard to Baltimore to “fix” our crime problem), go further by attempting to discount or discredit my opinion altogether.
I live two blocks from the Avenue Market in Sandtown. This is 21217. I have been a homeowner here since 2002. Aside from two years in Atlanta, I have spent 58 years living in and around Baltimore City — with a touch of Randallstown. I know this city. I know this metropolitan area.
What baffles me — and this is not just directed at the pro-National Guard folks — are the people who automatically stigmatize those of us who live here. Many have never set foot in Baltimore. So how could they possibly know how safe it is here? Please don’t tell me these are Fox News viewers!
And that’s exactly why we publish BMORENews.com: to counter mainstream rhetoric designed to demonize the victim and celebrate the victimizer. That’s America in a nutshell. And what’s worse is not the outlandish and disrespectful comments from racists — it’s the dogma that sometimes comes out of the mouths of our own people that hurts most.
NEWS FLASH! Slavery is over. Buck dancing, shuffling, steppin-n-fetch’n is no longer acceptable. You are now free to move about the country. You can stop glad-handing and tap dancing and go back to your normal selves. Nobody is going to make you pick cotton if you don’t want to. And hey, it is okay to think for yourself. No one is going to whip you if you stand up like a man.
For those who love Baltimore as much as I do, I salute you. For those who view our city through a Fox News lens from the periphery, please do not come to Baltimore. We do not need you. On the other hand, if you want a crab cake so good you might slap your momma… if you want the best tomato-based crab soup like your grandmother used to make… if you want some good ol’ Rockfish — blackened, stuffed, or both… if you want to meet some of the most authentic people in America, then by all means, come through.
Last thing: respect. I’m not sure what parents have been teaching their children these days. Not all children — I’m not making blanket statements. But we’ve got to get back to instilling some basic respect. We’ve lost it, and I fear it may never return. Remember, it all starts at home.
In the Black community, we know the challenges: too many fathers absent for various reasons, too many mothers absent too. Drugs and prisons have wreaked havoc across multiple generations. Here in 21217, men and women formerly incarcerated return from Maryland and federal prisons every day. And in these same neighborhoods, our schools lack heat, lack air conditioning, lack functioning recreation centers. Back in the day, the recs saved our lives. Today, it’s like the smarter we’ve become, the dumber our results.
Given the challenges of inner-city life, you’d think every school would have basic heating and air. You’d think every community in distress would at least have a recreation center. Yet here we are — with challenges compounded by Black elected officials who sometimes forget their servant-leader mission.
Still, even with all of that, I know this: we as a people understand that love can and will get us through. So yes — if you don’t bring love in your heart, do not come to Baltimore.
