By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO For decades, Baltimore has doled out tax breaks to spur development, but the increasing use of incentives has not been matched with the requisite scrutiny of how much they cost the city and who is benefiting. State Sen. Jill Carter, D-Baltimore, has introduced a bill […]
Author Archives: Stephen Janis and Taya Graham
Posted inBaltimore News
NAACP, ACLU file lawsuit alleging suppression of Black political power in Wicomico County
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO The historic practice of suppressing Black voting power on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is facing yet another legal challenge in the form of a federal civil rights lawsuit. The ACLU of Maryland and the Wicomico County NAACP filed a federal suit this week accusing the county […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Newberg sentence casts doubt on Baltimore’s commitment to less aggressive policing
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO From the onset of the Nov. 14 sentencing hearing for former Baltimore police sergeant Ethan Newberg, the city’s criminal justice system seemed poised to close the book on what the judge had termed his “old school” style of policing. Newberg had pleaded guilty to nine […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Black leaders on Eastern Shore celebrate political progress
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the landscape is replete with reminders of the peninsula’s racist past. The Harriet Tubman center sits astride the pathways she navigated to guide slaves to freedom. Signs point to the birthplace of Frederick Douglass, whose seminal book “Narrative of the Life […]
Posted inBaltimore News, NEWS
Police Reform Pioneer Seeks Breakthrough Legislation
State Senator Jill P. Carter will continue her fight to repeal laws that grand Maryland police officers special protections. (Courtesy photo) By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham Special to the AFRO During a break from a round of intense hearings in 2015 before the House Judiciary Committee in Annapolis, State Senator Jill P. Carter recalls […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Talbot County Votes to Cling to Confederacy
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham Special to the AFRO In a move decried by activists as a step backwards, the Talbot County Council voted against a resolution that would have removed a controversial confederate monument from the courthouse lawn. The measure which called for the removal of the so-called “Talbot Boys” statue was defeated […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Talbot Council Debates Removal of Confederate Statue
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham Special to the AFRO The Talbot County Council held a public debate over a resolution to remove a confederate statue from the courthouse lawn Tuesday but deferred a final vote on the proposal until August. The so-called “Talbot Boys” statue was erected in 1916 as a monument to men […]
Posted inNEWS
Racial Tensions Rise on Talbot County Council
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham Special to the AFRO A White Talbot County Councilwoman who moved to silence the president of the local chapter of the NAACP during a debate over diversity is being urged to apologize. The conflict arose recently while the Eastern Shore council considered a proposal to formally adopt a diversity […]
Posted inBaltimore News, NEWS
Black’s Death on Eastern Shore, Similar to Floyd’s
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham Special to the AFRO His death at the hands of police was captured on body camera. His last words as a cop laid across his 160-pound frame were “I can’t breathe.” The officer who escalated his arrest had previously been charged with a crime for kicking an African American […]
Posted inBaltimore Government, Baltimore News, NEWS, POLITICS
City Skirts Liability for GTTF
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO William James was driving on Hillen Road with his girlfriend in April 2016 when a trio of Baltimore police officers pulled him over. They ordered him out of the car and gave him a daunting choice: produce a gun or tell them where they could find […]
Posted inBaltimore News, NEWS
Transparency Against Police Brutality
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO It was never really a choice for Tawanda Jones. The Baltimore activist whose brother died after a brutal police beating in 2013 faced a decision that a decades old city policy had foisted upon families who sued the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) and won. The deal […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, Baltimore News, NEWS
Pocomoke Co. Police Chief Gets Probation
By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO Despite efforts by prosecutors to elicit jail time for Pocomoke’s first black police chief Kelvin Sewell, a Worcester County Judge ruled that the former Baltimore Homicide Supervisors would serve probation for a misdemeanor misconduct conviction tied to a 2014 accident investigation. Prior to sentencing by Judge […]