Category: Opinion
-
County Exec Steve Schuh Gets Approval to Lock Up Immigrants for Money from Feds. We Don’t Want This.
While County residents have fought against this, and County Council passed a resolution in Nov. asking for Schuh not to implement it, Schuh went forward anyway. This week, County Executive Steve Schuh, a multi-millionaire restaurant owner who relies on poor immigrant laborers to staff his restaurants, received final approval to participate in a program to…
-
State of Emergency on Race Relations in Maryland
American history is replete with examples of other people telling oppressed people how they should react to their oppression. Native Americans being told that their land was not theirs. Japanese Americans being interned and told that it was in the nation’s interest. Women told that they were not smart enough to vote. Jews seeing signs…
-
It’s Time to Hit the Mute Button on the Voice of Money in Maryland Politics
How to Eradicate Pay-to-Play in Maryland Big and small, cats and dogs, wizards and muggles. It’s easy to point to opposites in our surroundings. Contrast is one of the primary ideas first introduced in Pre-K, and a common strategy used by immersive language teachers. Many an author has penned their take on opposites with discussions…
-
Enough!
The year was 1976. The month was June. The day was the 16th. The township was Soweto. The City was Johannesburg. The country was South Africa. The cause was freedom. More than four decades ago, young people marched and died for “Uhuru” (freedom) in South Africa. Looking back at this anniversary is a reminder of…
-
Open Letter to County Council Chairman John Grasso
Dear Chairman Grasso; I met you on June 5th when I testified to the Anne Arundel County Council in support of the recently adopted Anti-Hate Resolution. The measure passed, but in retrospect, I wonder how seriously the Council views this resolution as an opportunity to create a lasting foundation for substantive inclusion of and sensitivity…
-
The Politics of Fear; Part One: The National Level
Throughout history, demagogues have exploited fear to gain power and to hold power. They create or exaggerate a threat and then present themselves as saviors. Donald Trump succeeded with this approach in his presidential campaign. The alleged threat immigrants posed to national security drew roars of approval from crowds across the country early in Trump’s…
-
Tribute to Reverend Leroy Bowman & Morris H. Blum
The late Reverend Leroy Bowman was the long-time distinguished pastor of First Baptist Church and the late Morris H. Blum was the founder of WANN radio in Annapolis, Maryland. Over the years, Reverend Bowman’s Annapolis church hosted some of the best known activists of the twentieth and twentieth-first century. They included Rosa Parks, the mother…
-
Chairman Grasso Makes Jokes as County Citizens Tell Emotional Stories of Racism
On Monday, June 5th an anti-hate resolution was introduced with a profound testimony by a clearly emotional Councilman Peter Smith (District 1). The Councilman shared a personal story of his experiences with racism, including the heartbreaking story of his stepfather beaten with a shovel by three men when Smith was a young boy. The entire packed…
-
Hear Us Hogan: Sick People At Work is Bad for Business and Workers
On May 25, 2017, Governor Larry Hogan vetoed HB1, the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act. This bill was passed with overwhelming support in the General Assembly and would have provided at least five days of sick leave a year to people who worked for companies with 15 or more full-time employees. In vetoing the bill…
-
Time to Vote Against Hate Crimes
On Tuesday, May 30, 2017, I attended a packed meeting of the Anne Arundel County NAACP‘s forum on hate, which was held at the Nichols-Bethel United Methodist Church in Odenton, Maryland. I looked around the audience and, with the exception of Annapolis Alderman Fred Paone and Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams, elected officials…