From the union hall to the radio mic, the East Baltimore native says it all goes back to one lesson: turn the money around for the community.
(RANDALLSTOWN – October 30, 2026) – Bishop Barry Chapman got his business plan before he ever had a business.
It came from his grandmother, the Rev. Beatrice Burnham. If he ever made some money, she told him, he had to bring it back home.
“You got to turn that money back around for the community,” Chapman recalled. “You got to lift the community up.”
He has spent a lifetime doing just that, as a union leader, an entrepreneur, a radio voice and a political donor who puts his checkbook where his mouth is.
The deal at 700 Rutland
When his parents split, young Barry moved in with his grandmother in East Baltimore. She kept a house in the 700 block of Rutland Avenue and another near Baltimore and Chester streets, and he stayed between the two. All 19 of her grandchildren filled the pews at her church. He fondly recalls them being the very first members.
On his first day she offered him a deal: go to church, go to school, clean your room, and do your chores. Then she asked if he accepted.
“I said, absolutely,” Chapman said, laughing. “Where was I going to go? Ain’t like I could fend for myself.”
He calls her “great.” She gave him the spiritual grounding he still carries.
The rest of his raising came from the women around him: his grandmother, mother, aunts and cousins. They made sure he never thought of women as beneath him, but as equals and partners in whatever he built.
“I had some strong African American women around me,” he said. “They made sure I was shaped.”
A worker who spoke up
Chapman came up through Edmondson High School and Harbor City Learning. He studied mass communications at Baltimore City Community College and earned a paralegal degree at the Community College of Baltimore County. He went on to earn a bachelor of arts in labor studies from the National Labor College at the George Meany Center.
The classroom followed the work. Chapman spent years at the Rosewood Center, and his co-workers learned he would speak up when others wouldn’t. That led to years of leadership in AFSCME and membership in the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
Linda Dorsey-Walker, who nominated him for a Baltimore County Democratic labor award, put it simply: “a man of the people and about the people.”
“That’s a long story”
Ask Chapman what he owns and he laughs first.
“Oh my goodness,” he said. “That’s a long story.”
The short version:
- Bishop Barry Pest Control is licensed in Maryland, D.C., Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware.
- Bishop Barry Does Business runs Bishop Barry Demolition, the recording operation We the People, We Are Awake, and a line of Bishop Barry cologne and perfume.
- Clear Path to a New Beginning handles fingerprinting, federal and state background checks, and home detention.
- Jesus Christ Bail Bonds is still in operation, even as the bail bond industry has changed.
- Two-Way Talk, Inc. produces the Two-Way Talk radio show.
He still works in each business. He also hires people who, like him, are working their way up.
Flowers while they’re here
Chapman’s giving isn’t only financial. He writes poems for people he admires and has them carved and burned into wood. I have two of them, presented at one of my BMORENews anniversaries.
“You got to give people their props while they’re alive,” he said. In his view, everyone is supposed to make a contribution while they’re here, and that’s when they deserve to hear about it.
Money behind the message
Chapman sits on the Baltimore County Democratic State Central Committee for District 44B. He says he won his seat with more than 7,000 votes, and he drew about 4,000 in a run for the House of Delegates.
When a cause makes sense to him, he funds it. He says he gave more than $10,000 to this year’s 4 More campaign to expand the Baltimore County Council.
“They didn’t get four more,” he said. “They got two more.”
In the end, it all goes back to Rutland Avenue and a grandmother’s rule about what success is for.
“I’m a Black person. I love my community,” Chapman said. “Regardless of its trials and tribulations, I love my community, and I give back.”
The Real Deal
The raw truth about Bishop is that, one, he is as tenacious an entrepreneur as you will ever meet. Trust me, he’s dedicated to his cause.
Two, he helps many, many people on a regular basis and has been a consistent supporter and friend to BMORENews.com for 15 years. And yes, when it’s time for an exterminator, he is exactly who I call.
Three, while many people know him through his activities in Baltimore County, like many County people, he is straight out of Baltimore. East Baltimore.
And four, if you didn’t know any better, you might think he stepped out of “Super Fly”—especially if you caught him in his limo. To say the least, Bishop owns the concept of flair.
Beyond all of that, he loves his community dearly—and it shows.
