(BALTIMORE – November 13, 2025) – Baltimore! World! Last week showed me something I’ve been waiting to see for years: New Baltimore is here. The Renaissance isn’t coming—it’s already arrived. And it’s not just the City. Baltimore County is also waking up. If you’re watching from the sidelines thinking otherwise, you might want to look again. The Heavyweights Are in the Room Last week, Shelonda Stokes presented the Downtown Partnership’s Annual Report—a major networking event that celebrated downtown achievements, recognized leaders, and mapped the future. The room was packed with power: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. Otis Rolley, the new CEO…

Ben Crump Backs Malcolm Ruff’s Senate Bid as Dalya Attar Faces Indictment Two weeks until the BMORENews benefit. Two weeks to decide if this kind of coverage continues. State Senator Dalya Attar is under federal indictment for allegedly conspiring with her brother and a police officer to blackmail a political opponent. The charges have shaken the 41st District and raised an urgent question: What happens next? Legally, Attar can still run for office. But that answer only scratches the surface. Will her running mates—Delegates Sandy Rosenberg and Sean Stinnett—stay on the ticket with an indicted senator? What does the Democratic…

(REISTERSTOWN – October 31, 2025) – Last night, Delegate N. Scott Phillips gathered his supporters for a fundraiser at a popular cigar lounge in Reisterstown. The evening drew a virtual who’s who of Greater Baltimore as the Northwest Baltimore County delegate gears up for the upcoming 90-day General Assembly session in Annapolis. Phillips has been increasingly active in state politics, weighing in on key issues that affect Maryland’s business community. Most recently, he shared his perspective on the federal freeze impacting Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) — a major concern for small and minority-owned firms. Working closely with the Legislative Black…

(BALTIMORE – October 30, 2025) – I guess Malcolm was right. No, not Malcolm X — the other Malcolm. The one from Park Heights. When he told me he was running for State Senator of the 41st, I was skeptical. “Nah, you should run for Delegate,” I said. But he stood firm on his decision. Now, barely three months into the campaign, the sitting State Senator faces a federal indictment. The timing couldn’t be more consequential. Suddenly, Delegate Malcolm Ruff’s Senate bid looks less like a long shot and more like vindication — a mental victory at minimum, but possibly…

(BALTIMORE – October 29, 2025) – Unbeknownst to many, a cultural revolution is quietly underway in America. It’s been simmering for generations — and now, it’s starting to boil. From Hawaii to California, from Georgia to Detroit, more and more melanated people are tracing their indigeneity, their true lineage. This isn’t just about ancestry websites. People are digging into family records, calling courthouses in other states, and connecting dots that were deliberately erased. What they’re finding is mind-blowing — history we were never taught. I saw this shift years ago when I posted a video on “Black Indians.” It got…

(BALTIMORE – October 27, 2025) – In the early 1970s, West North Avenue was alive with Black enterprise. I remember Ike Dixon Insurance, the beauty salons, the barbershops, the eateries — the heartbeat of our neighborhood. Fast-forward to more recent times, and only a few Black-owned businesses remain. My cousin Jamal ran Jamal’s Hauling in the 1800 block between Monroe and McKean. He loved his community deeply, and his business was one of the last to go after his passing. Everyone’s Place stands tall as a true staple. I remember when Nati started — from a street vendor to a…

(BALTIMORE – October 20, 2025) – Smoke was clearing away as neighbors came out early, picking up trash and debris. The morning after Baltimore’s first riots in 47 years, people began gathering at the battered intersection. Cameramen and reporters swarmed what had become the epicenter of global attention, while politicians scrambled to find out if the 1600 block of West North Avenue was in their district. It’s a shame how politicians regard Penn-North. The people here know local politics better than many could imagine. They know who’s delivered and who hasn’t. They attend Penn-North Community Association meetings, Druid Heights CDC…

The DOT’s October 3 rule ends 40 years of demographic protections. Black and women-owned firms must now prove discrimination individually—and time is running out. (BALTIMORE – October 15, 2025) – On October 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an interim final rule that fundamentally restructured the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, eliminating the demographic presumptions that have anchored federal contracting access for Black-owned, women-owned, and other disadvantaged firms for four decades. The consequences are immediate and severe. All existing DBE certifications are suspended. Firms must recertify by proving they have faced specific discrimination in their business history. The…

Effective immediately, firms must prove disadvantage individually—reshaping access to federal contracts (WASHINGTON, DC – October 15, 2025) – The U.S. Department of Transportation issued an interim final rule on October 3, 2025, fundamentally restructuring how the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program operates. The new rule eliminates race- and sex-based presumptions of disadvantage that have anchored the 40-year-old federal contracting initiative, requiring all firms to demonstrate economic hardship on a case-by-case basis. The shift has immediate consequences. All existing DBE and Airport Concessionaire Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) certifications are effectively suspended pending reevaluation under the new standards. Federal agencies are prohibited…

(JACKSONVILLE, FL – October 12, 2025) – Nationally renowned civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels have been retained to represent Erika McGriff, the unarmed Jacksonville mother violently arrested in front of her daughter by a police officer outside of her daughter’s school, IDEA Charter School on October 7. In recently released video footage, the officer can be seen punching McGriff, throwing her to the ground, pinning her by her neck with his knee, and yanking her hair as she cries out in pain. In the video audio, McGriff says “help” or “I can’t breathe” more than twenty times. Attorney…