The Glover Report: Things to Consider If You’re Black … Before Running for Office in Maryland

Having covered Maryland politics since the mid-90s, I must say that while there have been some sweet, unexpected wins over the decades, I am also saddened by a trail of tragic, unfortunate, and avoidable losses. For instance, we saw Coppin State get the largest investment in its infrastructure ever. And we witnessed increased attention on Minority Business Enterprise statewide, we have also seen calamity after calamity as one Black elected after another has fallen to the throws of corruption.

Born and raised in East and West Baltimore, I often reminisce on the old days, the old Baltimore, the one I grew up in with many of you. The City Fair, Operation Champ mobile units, Baltimore Summer Corps jobs, and BNBL games flood my local memory with many good times indeed.

It is a different world today in so many regards. So much has changed. Yet, I am reminded that the fundamentals remain the same. Basic moral values still withstand the test of time. Integrity and character still matter, no matter how many followers we have or don’t have on social media. A person’s word is still the gold standard – whether they are young or not so young, white, Black, Latino, Asian, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Christian, Amish, atheist, or anywhere in between.

From an Afrocentric perspective, it has always been important to this journalist to see Black progress. I want to brag about our Black elected officials the way Washingtonians brag about Mayor for Life Marion Barry or the way Atlantans perpetually celebrate Mayor Maynard Jackson.

Living in Baltimore City for most of my 56 years, I have watched certain communities get a lot of attention while others go ignored. I have seen Black communities in East Baltimore, Park Heights, and West Baltimore utterly removed. For me, this is troubling, particularly given that Baltimore has one of the highest percentages of Black elected officials nationally.

You see, going back to the days of Mayor J. Barry Mahool, the Father of Segregation, Baltimore has always had a plan to confine and eliminate the masses of Black people. Many, for example, do not know that Baltimore had the largest population of freed Blacks in the country prior to the Civil War thus leaving certain white folks with the Negro Dilemma: what to do with all of these Black people.

The Nowhere Highway first comes to mind. That knocked out an entire swath ... READ IN FULL