https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-JLlUXuchE&t=7s The 55th Eastern Regional Conference brought more than a sea of red to Baltimore. It brought economic, cultural, social, historical, and political power. (BALTIMORE – August 30, 2026) – Downtown Baltimore was painted red this weekend. Thousands of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated descended on the city for the organization’s 55th Eastern Regional Conference, held August 27–30, 2026, at the Baltimore Convention Center and Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor. I had the opportunity to cover the conference and witness its impact firsthand. Before entering the main ballroom, I stopped to see Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, publisher of the…

(BALTIMORE – August 22, 2026) – I once sat across from the man who directed Project Blue Book—the United States Air Force’s official investigation into unidentified flying objects—and asked him a simple question: Had he ever seen anything in the sky that he could not explain? His answer was yes. Lt. Col. Robert J. “Bob” Friend did not give me some recycled story from a documentary. He was not repeating something another pilot had told him. He told me personally that he had seen something flying—something that was neither regular nor normal. Maybe it was a light. Maybe it was…

For 24 years, BMORENews.com’s Six-Point News Agenda has guided its coverage of Black Baltimore. The mission—and the question—remain the same: What solution are you bringing to the table? (BALTIMORE – August 21, 2026) – For 24 years, BMORENews.com has operated under a Six-Point News Agenda focused on the issues that most directly affect Black Baltimore. The agenda is not new. It has guided our journalism since BMORENews.com was founded on August 9, 2002. What has changed is the urgency. Baltimore is experiencing investment on a scale we have not seen in generations. The West North Avenue Development Authority has committed…

Maryland’s political history proves that when power changes hands, new relationships—and new opportunities—can emerge. (BALTIMORE – August 16, 2026) – It’s been a long time coming, but change is finally here. We knew back in 2002 that change was indeed possible. Don’t remember that year? That was the era of the Republican Revolution in Maryland. Yep! After 36 years, Maryland Republicans finally outstunted the Democrats—despite the Democrats’ 2-to-1 voter-registration advantage. State Senator Clarence Mitchell IV did the unthinkable. C4 challenged the Democratic establishment and publicly questioned what Black voters were receiving in exchange for their unwavering loyalty. He helped lead…

Those who have been to the darkest depths of hell can best appreciate the limitless heights of heaven. (BALTIMORE – August 15, 2026) – I stood outside the Mercantile Trust Building on Baltimore Street and looked up at the 13th floor. That was where I worked. I was a broker trainee at the Chapman Company, headed by Nate Chapman, who was then the premier Black stockbroker in Baltimore. The position had been created for me, as often happens in business, and it gave me an inside look at a world most young Black men from West Baltimore never saw. I learned…

(BALTIMORE – August 13, 2026) – Whenever I think about baseball’s relationship with Black and Latino communities, Roberto Clemente comes to mind. Clemente was more than a magnificent right fielder. He was more than 3,000 hits, 12 Gold Gloves, four batting championships, two World Series championships, and a cannon for an arm. He was a proud Afro-Puerto Rican who came to the United States and encountered many of the same racial barriers faced by Black Americans. He was insulted because of his skin color. His intelligence was underestimated because he spoke English with an accent. Sportswriters sometimes quoted him in…

Baseball did not simply lose Black children. The game became too expensive for working-class families—and the Baltimore Orioles became disconnected from the city they call home. (BALTIMORE – August 8, 2026) – A dear friend of mine and Morehouse brother is Robert “Robbie” Scott, the son of the late Pat Scott. Pat was the last surviving member of Baltimore’s famed Goon Squad, but he preferred to be remembered as an artist and a professor at Morgan State University. At one point, Robbie was a Little League baseball coach. And boy, did I hear some stories about his experiences coaching. But Robbie…

Gregory Branch and the Talley Ho Foundation brought boys, girls, Legends and generations of Baltimore basketball history together at the Dome—while the Brunson League Finals delivered high-level action at UA House at Fayette (BALTIMORE – August 2, 2026) – For anyone who tells you it is just a game, tell them, “Surely, you jest.” It is more than a game. For many inner-city youth, basketball can be defining. One’s ability to handle the rock can help determine a young person’s trajectory. In some communities, hockey is the go-to sport. In other communities, soccer defines the culture. We just witnessed that…

(BALTIMORE – August 1, 2026) – For the uninitiated, Howard University made national headlines this week after unenrolling 502 incoming freshmen who had not satisfied the university’s financial requirements by its deadline. Since then, more than 200 students have been reinstated following individual reviews. That still leaves hundreds of young people and their families facing uncertainty just weeks before the beginning of the fall semester. Howard maintains that it repeatedly communicated its deadlines and financial requirements. Some affected families say the communication was confusing, their financial aid or outside scholarships had not been properly reflected, or they could not get…

(BALTIMORE – July 31, 2026) – I took a photograph today with Maryland House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk and discovered that we share a birthday: June 27. I was born in 1965; she arrived one year later, in 1966, in the Dominican Republic. That personal coincidence gave me another reason to examine the journey and leadership of the woman who became Maryland’s first Afro-Latina and first immigrant House speaker. Seven months after receiving the gavel, Peña-Melnyk has already reshaped the chamber she leads. She reorganized its leadership, elevated dozens of women, restructured its committees and presided over a consequential—and sometimes…