Black People, We Have to Show Up (LOCHEARN – May 30, 2026) – Dear Family, Do you remember where you were on Tuesday, November 4, 2008? I do. That morning, around 7 a.m., I walked around the corner to my polling place and saw something I had never seen before. The line was out the door. For a little perspective, I live in Sandtown. Zip code 21217. A community that has endured concentrated poverty, undereducation, addiction, violence, and mass incarceration. Baltimoreans make up 40% of the state’s prison population, while the city represents only 9% of the state’s population. Yet…

(BALTIMORE – May 28, 2026) – I get it. No! I really do get it. You see the position. You see the power. And somewhere in the deepest fathoms of your mind, you tell yourself — I want the crown. You see the elder and you think that you, of all people, have what it takes to hold the throne. You believe you have that pop, that je ne sais quoi. But don’t forget — the crown is not given. It is taken. One of the most telling depictions of this truth is the Clay-Liston fight in Miami. The younger…

(BALTIMORE – May 25, 2026) – I did not watch the Netflix Kevin Hart Roast. I want to be clear about that upfront. But by all accounts — and from the few minutes of Dr. Umar Johnson’s commentary that I could stomach before turning it off — what took place on that stage on May 10 crossed a line. And I, for one, am done. I attempted to open up Netflix. I went from thinking about typing in “Kevin Hart Roast” to immediately, and gladly, canceling my subscription. That is where I am. That is where I believe many of…

BLACK WALL STREET AWARDS | WOODLAWN | JUNE 4, 2026 For 40+ years, Randy Dennis showed up — no ego, no drama, just music, community, and joy. On June 4, Baltimore gets to say thank you. (BALTIMORE – May 25, 2026) — There is a particular kind of Baltimore person that this city produces every now and then. Not the loudest in the room. Not the one angling for the spotlight or chasing the headline. Just somebody who moves through the community with a quiet, unshakeable consistency — somebody who was there before you knew to look for them, and…

(BALTIMORE – May 23, 2026) – I’m glad Chezia Cager has a family legacy she can be proud of. This week, an elder — one whom I love dearly — sort of criticized the concept of family legacy in elections. I get it. And honestly, I agree. I do not believe that simply because one’s relative was a politician, a descendant is automatically qualified for office. Hell no. In this city, and in this election cycle, those things are indeed happening. But when it comes to Chezia — oh dear, big sister — she has earned her stripes. And quite honestly,…

(BALTIMORE – May 22, 2026) – Nat Oaks. Larry Young. Sheila Dixon. Catherine Pugh. Marilyn Mosby. In Baltimore politics, we have seen this movie before. A Black elected official gets indicted, and suddenly the same courthouse footage loops endlessly on television — walking beside a lawyer, head down, cameras flashing, public opinion already forming long before a verdict is ever reached. As a journalist, I know the drill all too well. Particularly in Baltimore, the rise and fall of Black politicians has often been treated not simply as news coverage, but as spectacle. The imagery becomes the story. The accusation…

(BALTIMORE – May 21, 2026) – Let me be direct. Two nights ago, at the Candidates Night hosted by the Edmondson Village, Rognel Heights, and Uplands Community Associations on Walnut Avenue, Delegate Sandy Rosenberg stood before the voters of the 41st Legislative District and essentially told us that a sitting state senator facing a federal indictment was not worth our concern. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t hedge. He didn’t blink. And that was one of the most disrespectful things I have witnessed at a political forum in decades of covering Baltimore. Delegate Rosenberg, we are not stupid. We understand due process.…

(RANDALLSTOWN – May 20, 2026) – Born in the 1960s — in the era when both Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated — I remember a very different Black America. There was fire in the belly of Black people. Afro picks. Bell bottoms. Curtis Mayfield playing through neighborhood windows. We stayed outside all day long with little more than a seesaw, a swing set, and imagination. There were no bike lanes. Nobody had ever heard the phrase “traffic calming.” And if you were not home by the time the streetlights came on, you already knew you were…

(BALTIMORE – May 17, 2026) – In 2026, that should not be a controversial statement. Yet every day online, in politics, and increasingly in public life, Black Americans are subjected to a level of hatred, disrespect, distortion, and dehumanization that is both exhausting and revealing. With Pres. Donald J. Trump leading a White House that too often feels more like political theater than principled leadership, racial resentment has become louder, bolder, and more comfortable showing its face publicly. The behavior I see online daily is beyond disturbing. Much of it is ugly, ignorant, and rooted in a hatred many people…

(BALTIMORE – May 17, 2026) – As early voting approaches in Maryland’s June 23 Democratic Primary, voters in the 41st Legislative District face a serious decision about the future of their representation in Annapolis. This race is not about religion. It is not about ethnicity. And it should not become a fight between Black and Jewish communities that have lived side by side in Baltimore for generations. This is about leadership, accountability, and the district’s future. State Senator Dalya Attar is currently under federal indictment in a case involving allegations of extortion, hidden recordings, and efforts to silence a political…