(BALTIMORE – May 31, 2026) — Maybe I got this whole thing wrong. I’m talking about public service. I thought it was about getting out there, fighting for healthcare, jobs, voting rights — good, wholesome causes. Clearly, I’ve missed this whole new era where politicians no longer have to earn our vote.
Apparently, we live in an age where video editing and deepfakes are the new strategies for replacement. Instead of mapping out real solutions, you just hire someone to splice together funky clips of your opponent looking awkward, let it go viral, and voilà — you’re a leader. LMAO.
Never mind the work of pulling together coalitions of like-minded people to confront age-old policies that have gutted the Black community — like redlining. Forget about helping our HBCUs — Morgan and Coppin — better address the issues of transportation and housing in Baltimore. Naw, now you just make a Facebook post that makes you look good, talk smack about a local Civil Rights icon to appear relevant — when you’re not — and pack it up, go home, and count likes.
Mark Conway, not sure how it works in the Big Apple, but in Baltimore, that doesn’t work.
What happened at the SEIU forum was telling. The moderator fumbled — unclear instructions, rules she didn’t follow herself. And those hecklers in the audience? That wasn’t organic. That was a setup. Baltimore has seen this playbook before, and we recognize it.
You cannot disrespect a man who grew up on Division Street, who did more in politics before you were born than you have in your fledgling career, and expect to earn gravitas. You’re not earning gravitas. You’re earning disdain.
See, if you want to beat the champ, you have to show your body of work — not tear down a giant. You have to talk about who you helped get a job, whose house you helped save, who you got into drug treatment, who you visited in prison.
If you want to earn my vote for the 7th Congressional seat, you also have to do more than talk about Israel’s relationship to Washington, D.C. Tell me where you stand with Ibrahim Traore and his move to dismantle neo-colonialism in Francophone Africa. Tell me your solution for the Gulf of Hormuz. Reference southeast Asia’s dominance in the semiconductor industry and how America can better position itself in the race for quantum computing.
But to come to the Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center and be rude to our legend — when you clearly concluded ugliness would serve you better — I think you need to return to your drawing board and think again.
Yeah, Mark. It’s easy to tell me how bad your opponent is. But what have you done that makes you better?
Doni Glover is the founder and publisher of BMORENews.com, now in its 24th year of covering Black Baltimore, and the founder of the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards, now in its 15th year. He is also the host of the Emmy-nominated Doni Glover podcast and The Doni Glover Show on WMAR-TV 2.
