By Natasha C. Pratt-Harris I absolutely love my Baltimore. My Baltimore is gritty. We fight each other sometimes and it can be tragic but we for sure don’t let others fight us without us fighting back. I love that our Baltimore recognizes that the intra-personal fights have got to stop and found a way to […]
Category: OPINION
Posted inOPINION
In memory of George Briscoe: Another victim of a Maryland lynching
By Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III To the family of George Briscoe, I come to you with reflection, humility and intention. I’ve recently learned of your family’s story and now that I know it, I cannot forget it. On Nov. 26, 1884, an armed group of White men lynched 40-year-old George Briscoe by the Magothy […]
Posted inCommentary
Commentary: Michael B. Jordan loves being Black. We do too
After winning Outstanding Actor at the NAACP Image Awards and taking home a leading actor prize at the 32nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Michael B. Jordan has become an Oscar frontrunner for his role in “Sinners.” The victories mark a cultural moment for Black audiences who have watched the film’s awards-season journey amid broader political and social pressures, turning Jordan’s success into a celebration of affirmation and resilience.
Posted inOPINION
Opinion: Regime change and the roots of U.S. hostility with Iran
By Dayvon Love In 1953 the United States and other western forces collaborated to overthrow the democratically elected president, Mohammad Mosaddegh, of Iran. The stated rationale for pursuing regime change was based on the Cold War logic that Mosaddegh was aligning with an evil communist sphere of influence anchored by the former United Soviet Socialist […]
Posted inCommentary
Free market solutionist and community-based economic empowerment groups sound alarms on regressive housing legislation
By Troy Rolling The Maryland General Assembly and Montgomery County Council are moving forward with legislation intended to ban the algorithmic software that the housing industry uses to obtain pricing estimates on the apartments and homes they list for rent in The Old-Line State. While the legislation’s sponsors introduced the bills with the intent of […]
Posted inCommentary
Vulnerable communities left to breathe the consequences as EPA repeals endangerment finding
By Almeta Cooper Nothing brings me more joy than spending time with my beautiful five-month-old grandson. When I am with him, we are in our own special world – the board books, the stuffies, the smiles. I certainly don’t want him to see the dread I am feeling. I work in the climate sector and […]
Posted inWord In Black
Education is repair: Black history and America at 250
By Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter This summer, the United States will celebrate 250 years of independence. However, this is not the only anniversary to commemorate. February marks the 50th anniversary of Black History Month as it exists now, and 100 years of this recognition in some form. As we reflect on these milestones, the struggle […]
Posted inBlack History
Black history is in Maryland’s economic future
By Harry Coker Jr. Every February, we pause to celebrate Black History Month—a time to honor the giants upon whose shoulders we stand. Recently, during a visit to the Banneker-Douglas-Tubman Museum in Annapolis, and while walking past the future home of the AARCH African American Heritage Center in Frederick, I was reminded that Black history […]
Posted inOPINION
What Jesse Jackson’s legacy demands now
By Kamye Hugley Nowadays, political rhetoric is increasingly portraying civil rights protections as overcorrection and even unnecessary. But the legacy of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who died Feb. 17, is a reminder to the nation of a different understanding of justice—one that insisted that expanding equity strengthens democracy rather than diminishes it. Jackson spent […]
Posted inOPINION
Federal loan caps could shut a majority of Baltimore out of medicine – do local health systems care?
Historically, Black high schools like Frederick Douglass and Paul Laurence Dunbar shaped Baltimore’s workforce, but unequal pathways have long determined who entered medicine versus low-wage healthcare labor.
Posted inCommentary
Determined optimism: How small and mid-sized businesses can leverage and learn from the CIAA Tournament
Janet Currie, president of Bank of America, Greater Maryland, highlights how Baltimore’s small and mid-sized businesses can capitalize on the CIAA Tournament’s economic impact by boosting community engagement, tightening cash flow management and planning for succession. She emphasizes that supporting local businesses during CIAA week helps build and sustain generational wealth in the community.
Posted inOPINION
Spiritual homicide: The American president and the death of a nation’s conscience
By Rev. Stacy Swimp As a person of half-Nigerian heritage, I carry within me the Igbo philosophy that a person is only a person through their relationship with others. In this tradition, human dignity—Mmadụ—is not an individual possession but a communal bond; to insult one is to fracture the spirit of the whole. As we […]