“It is time for the story of the hunt to be told from the perspective of the hunted.”
– Wendell Phillips, introduction to Frederick Douglass’ Narrative
Outsider’s Attempt to Dictate Northwest Baltimore Politics Shows Stunning Disrespect
(RANDALLSTOWN – January 6, 2025) – There has been an attempt made on the character and integrity of the Northwest Baltimore County community by outsiders seeking to steal favor. There are those who would dare attempt to insert their own narrative into a community they know nothing about – other than a few sterile conversations about what Blackness supposedly looks like on Liberty Road.
They’ve never heard Delegate Emmett Burns preach. Never sat at Ella White Campbell’s dining room table. Never attended one of Ken Oliver’s fish fries. They never shot hoops in Randallstown, swam at Milford Mill Swim Club, or ate shrimp toast at Golden Dragon – but here they come from Colorado telling us who to vote for.
You gotta love these guys. Bless their hearts.
But somebody’s gotta school them. You can’t just pop up in a community you know nothing about and start off by saying you’ve talked to “the chiefs” and therefore get a pass. Naw, buddy. It ain’t that kind of party.
The Audacity of Outsider Politics
Damian O’Doherty’s recent piece attempting to position Nick Stewart as some kind of reformer who has transcended racial politics isn’t just bad political analysis – it’s insulting to every Black voter in Baltimore County who has been building this community for generations.
Let’s start with the obvious: O’Doherty lives in Pitkin County, Colorado. Not Woodlawn. Not Randallstown. Not Owings Mills. Colorado.
Now, I respect anyone’s right to commentary on Maryland politics. But when you live 1,700 miles away and haven’t lived in Baltimore County in years, maybe you should approach our community with a little more humility and a lot less condescension.
The article’s central premise – that Black leaders in Baltimore County are “looking past the historic nature of Jones’s candidacy” because they’ve somehow “matured past the point where representation alone satisfies” – is a masterclass in patronizing nonsense.
Let me translate: O’Doherty is telling Black voters that supporting Julian Jones, a Black man with decades of public service, is somehow immature or unsophisticated. That we’re being fooled by “symbolism without substance.”
That’s rich coming from someone who literally worked for Jim Smith’s administration and is now trying to lecture us about what real Black power looks like.
The Barry Williams Myth
The article prominently features Barry Williams as “the dean of Baltimore County governance” who has supposedly endorsed Stewart’s vision. Let me be clear: I have tremendous respect for Barry Williams, who is Delegate Adrienne Jones’ brother. Barry has been a steady voice in our community for years.
But “the dean of Baltimore County governance”? C’mon, guys. You are reaching.
And here’s what the article conveniently omits: Delegate Adrienne Jones, the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and one of the most powerful elected officials in the state, is with Councilman Julian Jones all the way.
You want to talk about Black leadership in Maryland? Adrienne Jones isn’t just a leader – she’s THE leader. She made history as the first Black person and first woman to serve as Speaker. When she speaks, people listen. When she endorses, it matters.
But O’Doherty would rather quote her brother to build a narrative that Black County leaders are abandoning Julian Jones. That’s not political analysis. That’s political fiction.
Who Knows This Community?
If you knew anything about Baltimore County’s Westside – and I mean really knew it, not just drove through it on your way to a campaign event – you’d understand there is a formidable Black presence all along the Liberty Road corridor.
Every single day, upwardly mobile, college-educated homeowners who vote travel up and down Liberty Road. They’ve been doing so for decades. They built these communities. They pay a significant portion of the county’s taxes. And they damn sure don’t need some consultant from Colorado telling them they’re too unsophisticated to understand that voting for Julian Jones is “identity politics.”
My family has spent the last half century growing the next generations in Woodlawn, Randallstown, and Owings Mills. Like many others in the area, we have roots in Baltimore City. We remember when these neighborhoods were first opening up to Black families. We remember the struggle to build something our own. We remember who helped us and who stood in the way.
So it’s downright disrespectful when these outsiders insert themselves to speak for us as if – number one, we cannot think and speak for ourselves, and two, as if they know us, our needs, our desires, our struggles.
The Real Message Behind the “Reform” Narrative
Let’s talk about what’s really being said here. O’Doherty’s article is selling a gloom and doom forecast featuring Armageddon if a Black man is finally elected to a position historically held only by white men in Baltimore County.
They’re saying the County Council “can’t shoot straight.” They’re saying Julian Jones is too tied to “Towson culture.” They’re using one Republican councilman’s personal crisis to tar the entire institution – and by extension, Julian Jones.
But what they’re really saying is: “Don’t worry, white Baltimore County. Nick Stewart isn’t one of those Black candidates. He’s different. He’s safe. He’s reform.”
We’ve seen this movie before.
Remember how that O’Malley-type mindset played out with Black people in Baltimore City? Enough people fell for his okie doke, only to later find him locking up everything that moved. That was zero tolerance. The same nice white guy who talked about reform started acting like he was getting a check from the Klan.
So no thanks, buddy. We’re good.
What They Don’t Tell You About Julian Jones
Here’s what O’Doherty’s hit piece conveniently ignores:
Julian Jones has been doing the work. Not just showing up for photo ops. Not just talking reform. Actually delivering for his constituents for years.
Jones has helped people early in their political careers. He’s been there when communities needed someone to fight for them. He’s built relationships based on trust, not Twitter threads and consultant-written op-eds.
And if past conditions continue, Jones is likely to get support from elected officials he has helped along the way. People tend not to forget those who jumped on board early in a campaign. That’s not pay-to-play. That’s called building a coalition through service.
The Legacy That Matters
When I think of the role of the Black Marylander in American politics, Frederick Douglass comes to mind. He went from being enslaved on the Eastern Shore to Ambassador to Haiti. He set the bar high for Black leadership in Maryland.
Thurgood Marshall didn’t just make history in Maryland – he changed the nation. Clarence Mitchell Jr., the “101st Senator,” fought for civil rights from Baltimore to Washington. Congressman Parren J. Mitchell broke barriers and delivered results. Harriet Tubman became a national symbol of freedom.
And before all of them, there was Benjamin Banneker – the Baltimore County native who memorized the plans for the nation’s capital when the original architect tried to take them back to France.
That’s the legacy Julian Jones is building on. Not symbolism. Not empty representation. Real work. Real results. Real service to the community.
The Lesson
These messengers lost this argument the moment they started it, because they fundamentally do not understand respect.
Yes, race is an issue in this election. And it’s not an issue because of Black people. Keep it real.
When you go around speaking like you’ve talked to our actual leaders – and not some off-brand surrogates – you demonstrate just how desperate you are.
The lesson is simple: Come correct or don’t come at all.
We’re six months from this primary. There will be plenty of time for real debates about real issues – affordable housing, public safety, education, economic development. But those debates need to be rooted in reality, not in some Colorado consultant’s fantasy about what Black Baltimore County voters want or need.
Julian Jones has earned the right to make his case to this community. And this community has earned the right to make its decision without outsiders telling us we’re too unsophisticated to understand our own interests.
We know exactly what we’re doing. We’ve been doing it for generations.
And we’re not about to let someone who doesn’t even live here tell us any different.
Doni Glover is the founder and CEO of BMORENews.com, a 23-year-old independent digital media outlet serving Baltimore and underrepresented communities. He has consulted on four consecutive winning Maryland gubernatorial campaigns and maintains the most extensive video archive of Black Maryland political coverage in the state. He also served as the initial editor of Baltimore County’s Northwest Voice Newspaper.
