(BALTIMORE – July 23, 2025) – If we’re serious about building a New Baltimore—one that is just, sustainable, and genuinely inclusive—we must commit to a vision that marries economic development with grassroots political power. That means understanding a critical truth: business innovation and community activism are not opposites—they are allies.
We often praise the developers, CEOs, and institutional leaders who are shaping the skyline and economy of our city. Names like Otis Rolley, Mark Anthony Thomas, Shelonda Stokes, and David Bramble are rightly applauded for their leadership and bold business moves. They are the dealmakers ushering in the future.
But there’s another group, often unrecognized by the business press, that is just as essential to Baltimore’s rebirth: the political organizers, cultural workers, and movement-builders who demand that justice and equity be woven into the city’s DNA.
Few embody that spirit more than Dayvon Love, Director of Public Policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS).
The Activist Blueprint
For more than a decade, Dayvon and LBS have pushed Baltimore—and Maryland more broadly—to reckon with the structural forces that marginalize Black communities. From stopping the construction of a juvenile jail to creating the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, LBS has shown that activism doesn’t just protest—it produces.
The BCYF model, shaped heavily by LBS, challenges traditional philanthropy by placing control in the hands of those most impacted. It invests in grassroots organizations doing transformative work in youth development, community health, and civic leadership. That’s not just political theory. That’s institution-building.
Dayvon’s work proves that political power and policy fluency are just as critical to city-building as capital investment. As he steps into the role of elder—still young, but deeply seasoned—he carries the weight and wisdom of a generation that has learned to fight within and beyond the system.
Not Either-Or, But Both-And
We should be clear: Baltimore cannot thrive on business prowess alone. Nor can it move forward on protest alone. We need both.
We need the Rolley-led plans for infrastructure, and we need the Love-led strategies for community oversight. We need the Bramble development projects—and we need the kind of engaged civic leadership that ensures those projects don’t displace the people who’ve built their lives in those neighborhoods.
Too often, the city’s business and activist communities operate in silos. But the most enduring models for transformation are those that bring them into collaboration—not as rivals, but as necessary partners.
Imagine developers working in tandem with youth trained through LBS’s Avis Ransom Institute. Imagine cultural districts like the Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts District, led by Lady Brion, being structurally embedded in revitalization plans as permanent fixtures, not afterthoughts.
That’s not only possible—it’s imperative.
A Call for Balance
Dayvon Love represents a school of thought and action that Baltimore desperately needs: sharp, rooted in Black radical tradition, and deeply practical about the hard work of transformation.
His evolution—from a national policy debate champion to a community-based elder—is a reflection of what’s possible when brilliance is paired with purpose. He reminds us that the work of liberation is slow, often thankless, but essential.
The New Baltimore cannot be built without Black political imagination. And it will not be sustained without Black economic infrastructure. Both must rise together.
So, as we lay the foundation for a city reimagined, let us make space for voices like Dayvon’s—not just to advise from the sidelines, but to lead in lockstep with those building the physical and financial frameworks of our future.
Because a New Baltimore isn’t just about new buildings.
It’s about a new balance.
Doni Glover is the founder of BMORENews.com and host of the Doni Glover Show. A journalist, entrepreneur, and community advocate, Glover has worked for decades to elevate the voices of Black Baltimore.
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Let’s give this elder his flowers—while he can still smell them.
