(BALTIMORE – May 12, 2025) – In my world of media, business, and politics in Baltimore, there has never been a greater champion for Black-owned businesses than Robert Lee “Bob” Clay.
He was shot to death on May 16, 2005. Officially, it was labeled a suicide. But the facts don’t add up. Bob was right-handed. Yet the bullet entered the left side of his head. That defies logic.
At the time, then-Mayor Martin O’Malley was campaigning hard for the Governor’s seat in the 2006 election. And Bob Clay? He was campaigning just as hard against him — running up and down the I-95 corridor, from Laurel to Baltimore, from Prince George’s County to Annapolis, dropping fliers everywhere warning people not to vote for O’Malley.
That was Clay — tenacious, relentless. Just like everything he did.
He was a huge supporter of Delegate Jill Carter and even backed her mayoral run. As the head of the Maryland Minority Contractors Association, he held monthly meetings for local business owners — especially Black contractors. He knew the construction industry inside and out and knew everybody in it. But more than that, he led by example. Clay wasn’t about talk. He was about action. He was a “show you better than I can tell you” kind of man. A man’s man.
That Monday morning, when I got the call, I cried like a baby. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated him until he was gone. He was a soldier — bold, fearless, unapologetically Black. He stood up for the underserved and wasn’t afraid to step to anyone — anytime, anywhere. Point blank. Period.
The last time I saw Bob, he knocked on my door to pay me for some work I had done for him. I live in Sandtown. For people not familiar with this community, arriving here can be… unnerving. You can see the discomfort in their faces. But not Bob Clay. He didn’t flinch. That man came to my doorstep to bring me my money. That’s something my father would do. But not everyone is cut from that cloth. It doesn’t mean they’re not genuine — it just means their tolerance for the inner city is different. And that’s okay.
We lost a true champion in Bob Clay. His killer was never found. But those of us who knew him — who saw him fight for us — still carry the torch. May his spirit continue to inspire every warrior for justice, business, and Black empowerment today.
