Faith leaders across Maryland are urging Senate President Bill Ferguson to prioritize mid-cycle redistricting legislation ahead of a House hearing. The appeal comes as lawmakers consider a proposed congressional map that critics say could eliminate the state’s lone Republican seat and backfire on Democrats.
Category: Baltimore News
Posted inU.S. Government
Deadline looms as Congress risks another shutdown
With federal funding set to expire at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 30, Congress is again on the brink of a government shutdown, just months after a prolonged lapse disrupted essential services and deepened hardship for families nationwide. As Republicans push a single sweeping funding vote, Democrats warn that no viable agreement exists, leaving negotiations stalled and the risk of another shutdown growing as the deadline approaches.
Posted inNEWS
10 films selected for inaugural HBCU Week NOW Film Festival
Ten award-winning short films by students and recent graduates of historically Black colleges and universities will premiere Jan. 27 as part of the inaugural HBCU Week NOW Student Film Festival. The selected films, representing multiple genres and institutions, will stream on the HBCU Week NOW YouTube channel, with each winning project receiving a $5,000 award.
Posted inNational News
Massive winter storm across the US brings ice, frigid temperatures and widespread power outages
By Kate Brumback and Julie WalkerThe Associated Press A massive winter storm dumped sleet, freezing rain and snow across much of the U.S. on Jan. 25, bringing subzero temperatures and paralyzing air and road traffic. Power lines were draped in ice, and hundreds of thousands of people in the Southeast were left without electricity. The […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Associated Black Charities to continue community conversations, centering resident voices in 2026
Associated Black Charities (ABC) will continue their Community Convos in the Hamilton community on Jan. 22, to inform how resources are invested across Baltimore neighborhoods and to shape the organization’s priorities based on community input.
Posted inBooks
Enoch Pratt to highlight work of Angela Flournoy at 38th Annual Booklover’s Breakfast
Enoch Pratt Free Library will host its sold-out 38th Annual Booklovers’ Breakfast featuring award-winning novelist Angela Flournoy on Feb. 7 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront.
Posted inBaltimore News
Historic $50,000 down payment assistance initiative helps faculty and alumni put down roots in West Baltimore’s historic Black neighborhoods.
Coppin State University’s Live Near the Nest program is making Maryland history by offering $50,000 in down payment assistance—the largest initiative of its kind in the state—to help faculty, staff and alumni achieve homeownership in West Baltimore’s historic Black neighborhoods. The program is already transforming lives by closing equity gaps, stabilizing communities and enabling participants to build generational wealth while deepening their ties to the neighborhoods where they live and work.
Posted inMaryland News
Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission issues final report with 84 recommendations
By Megan SaylesAFRO Staff Writermsayles@afro.com The Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission (MLTRC) has released its final report, outlining 84 recommendations for the state to reckon with its enduring legacy of racial terror lynchings and marking the culmination of six years of research and public hearings. The commission hosted a virtual briefing on the report—released […]
Posted inOPINION
Opinion: ‘You will see me’: A Black woman CEO’s declaration
By Chrissy M. Thornton I have spent my career learning how to lead with vision, discipline, empathy and results. I believe I have earned my seat – through education, experience, sacrifice and outcomes. Yet still, as a Black woman CEO, I am routinely reminded that credentials do not inoculate you from dismissal; that power, in […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Morgan State University choir honor MLK Day with community concert
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a powerful community concert at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Featuring the Morgan State University Choir, the program celebrated the civil rights leader and his legacy through music by Black composers.
Posted inBlack History
Protect the day, protect the truth
By Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy DraperAFRO CEO and Publisher As the nation marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the real question is not how loudly we celebrate — but whether we are willing to live by the values Dr. King demanded. Each January, the nation knows how to celebrate. We mark the day. We replay […]
Posted inOPINION
Opinion: When eviction means losing everything in Baltimore
Eddie Blackstone, Baltimore Organizer at the Community Development Network and Albert Turner, Human Right to Housing Attorney at the Public Justice Center, say despite a federal appeals court ruling that says Baltimore’s abandonment law is unconstitutional, the city fails to act more than a year later.