Author Archives: Shernay Williams

Circuit Court Judge Marcella A. Holland has been a pioneer since she was 12-years-old. As one of the first Black students to integrate the junior high school in her rural hometown of Cooksville, in Maryland’s Howard County, Holland set the stage for future “first” accomplishments. They include her prestige as the first Black woman appointed […]

Baltimore City residents are widely perceived as apathetic to the city’s political process, but many have a lot to say about the city’s upcoming mayoral election. The AFRO took to the city’s streets, schools, restaurants and supermarkets to ask everyday Baltimoreans what issues matter most in the city. Public safety, property taxes and job creation […]

A trial for the contentious legal case involving the state and a coalition of students and alumni from Maryland’s four HBCUs has been postponed until December. The presiding judge over the federal case, Catherine C. Blake, ordered the state and coalition to have “continued mediation” until a jury trial now scheduled for the first week […]

The nation’s oldest Black lawyers and judges association will host its 86th annual convention in Baltimore later this month. The D.C.-based National Bar Association (NBA) will draw an estimated 1,200 Black lawyers, judges, educators and law students to Baltimore for the convention, which will be held at Hilton Baltimore in downtown July 31 through Aug. […]

The recent endorsement of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake by a longtime alliance of Black pastors incited a fiery debate on social networking sites last week. Community activists and everyday citizens expressed disdain for the endorsement and its process. “This is shameful, disgusting and repulsive. Shame, Shame, Shame,” Rev. Cortly CD Witherspoon wrote on his Facebook wall. […]

State utility regulators drafted a set of policies July 7 that would require electricity providers to scan public areas around the state for stray electricity. The Maryland Public Service Commission, during a day-long rule making session, mulled over “The Deanna Camille Green Rule,” which was proposed by the parents of the 14-year-old electrocuted in Druid […]

An outspoken principal, who openly protested violence in her school’s Northeast Baltimore community after one of her students was fatally shot last May, was abruptly dismissed from her job June 27. Parents, students and community leaders are now rallying for Dr. Camille Bell’s position at Montebello Elementary/ Junior Academy to be reinstated. A cluster of […]

After months of shaking hands and participating in mayoral debates, City Councilman Carl Stokes, D-12, decided not to run for mayor and filed for his 12th District seat instead. He made the decision the morning of July 4, one day prior to the filing deadline, he told the AFRO in a phone interview. “It was […]

The West Baltimore businessman, real estate tycoon, venture capitalist and political heavyweight who famously had an illegal gambling conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, died June 27 from pneumonia at the age of 97. William Lloyd “Little Willie” Adams might have been one of the wealthiest Black men in America, with an estimated worth […]

In August 2008, Baltimore City Police Maj. Melvin Russell realized he wasn’t going to combat crime and help build sustainable neighborhoods solely through police tactics. “We need a holistic approach and we need help from everyone – the community, faith leaders and the business community,” he said. His East Baltimore district is the smallest in […]

Roughly 11 weeks remain until Baltimore’s mayoral primary, but Democratic candidates are already dominating airwaves, television and print media, publicizing how they would transform Baltimore if they were mayor. Current Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who, by far, boasts the most money in her campaign coffers and the most endorsements, made her official announcement before a crowd […]