Social justice

    Commentary: Palestinians endure continuing loss of lives from Israeli attacks in Gaza
    With the death of his brother during Israel’s bombing of Gaza, a Palestinian American says he fears for the lives of other family members there.
    Shown is Shaaban Alsawada. His brother, Adnan, says he died from injuries he suffered after an Israeli missile struck a building near a family home. After Shaaban suffered shrapnel wounds, other brothers rushed him to the hospital. But the emergency room was understaffed and overwhelmed with the number of wounded, Adnan says.
    Commentary: Baltimore saw “Shaft” before almost anyplace else
    Actor Richard Roundtree, who died Tuesday at age 81, created the iconic film character John Shaft, who redefined Black male characterization in movies and across popular culture.
    Richard Roundtree in the Gordon Parks movie “Shaft” (1971).
    Before judge’s assassination, lawmakers knew there was a problem
    It’s not clear how a gunman found Judge Andrew Wilkinson's Hagerstown home Friday night and shot him to death in his driveway. Maybe he followed him home, or maybe he stalked him on the Internet. But Maryland lawmakers knew this kind of violence was a threat.
    Flowers are placed next to the garage door in the driveway of the home of Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson, Friday, Oct. 20. 2023, in Hagerstown.
    Political notes: Fundraising season kicks off; state Supreme Court to right racist decision; Harborplace update
    Political notes: Fundraising season; state Supreme Court to right a racist decision; and updates on Harborplace.
    Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon.
    Fighting for the rights of people with disabilities
    Meghan Marsh has been the executive director since September at Disability Rights Maryland.
    Meghan Marsh has been the executive director of Disability Rights Maryland since September.
    Maryland Muslim leaders say ‘innocent lives deserve to be protected’ in Gaza
    “There is no safety in Gaza. I feel defenseless knowing something might happen and I have no power to stop it," a founder of the Palestinian Community of Metro DC said.
    Aref Ramadan looks at photos of his deceased relatives who were victims of attacks on Gaza last week. Ramadan says his family uses social media to communicate but service is sparse. He has not heard from his living relatives in over three days.
    Commentary: When it comes to Billie Holiday, we still have a lot to learn
    Familiar portrayals of traumatic and tragic elements of Billie Holiday’s life can miss the point of her story: Eleanora Fagan from Baltimore had a singular voice and a lasting musical and cultural impact.
    American jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959), also known as “Lady Day,” during a 1954 performance. Picture Post-7380-Billie Holiday-unpub.
    Will Schwarz is on a mission to make sure we learn about lynchings in Maryland
    As president of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, Will Schwarz has the task of addressing the atrocities of racial terror murders of the past while helping to ensure that these crimes are not repeated in the future.
    Will Schwarz, president of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project.
    Commentary: Thomas Smallwood’s ‘underground railroad’ freed hundreds in Maryland, D.C.
    Thomas Smallwood led hundreds of enslaved people in Maryland and D.C. to freedom and made a point of letting the public, including enslavers, know what his “underground railroad” had achieved.
    Thomas Smallwood is considered the first person to use the phrase “underground railroad,” which he did when writing about how he led hundreds of enslaved people in Maryland and D.C. to freedom.
    Sarah Huckabee Sanders emailed me. I bet we disagree over the Naval Academy admissions suit.
    Some backing a lawsuit in federal court seeking to stop the Naval Academy from using race as an admissions factor want to define who gets to be a midshipman based on their experience. They don’t want a fair system, they want the same one that favored them.
    Naval Academy midshipmen walk past a gate at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Saturday during a football game.
    The Morgan State attack and what an entire community needs to do about it
    A shooting that injured five young people during homecoming week at Morgan State University should serve as a call to action for an entire community, columnist E.R. Shipp says.
    Baltimore Councilwoman Odette Ramos comforts people waiting outside the police perimeter after a shooting on the campus of Morgan State University on Oct. 3, 2023.
    Letters: What happened to the money Mayor Scott promised to prevent evictions?
    Baltimore needs to prioritize emergency rental assistance to protect families from the physical and mental harm caused by evictions, representatives of two community advocacy groups say.
    Eviction notices taped onto doors and windows
    50 people file lawsuits alleging decades of abuse in Maryland’s juvenile detention centers
    The plaintiffs describe systemic physical, sexual and psychological abuse spanning decades within Maryland’s juvenile justice system.
    The Maryland Department of Health offices in Baltimore.
    Commentary: Baltimore’s Latino community embraces diversity, meets challenges
    Institutions seeking to successfully engage with Baltimore’s Latino community need to appreciate its diversity and understand its challenges, community activists and leaders say.
    Veronica Cool is founder of Cool & Associates LLC, a marketing firm specializing in Hispanic engagement and community outreach.
    After the gunfire, it’s up to all of us to help the victims’ families
    Who helps when lives are shattered by everyday gun violence? When death arrives at your doorstep, who helps you make the next day seem possible? On Oct. 10, two small organizations will ask Annapolis that question again, this time after a mass shooting in June.
    Sandra Mireles-Perez, the widow of Nick Mireles, shares stories about her husband after he was killed in a mass shooting in Annapolis on June 11, 2023. He left behind eight children.
    Maryland lynchings still haunt communities like Salisbury
    Efforts are underway around Maryland to confront the reality that more than 6,500 Black Americans were lynched in the United States between 1865 and 1950. At least 38 of the victims were in Maryland.
    Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk poses for a portrait in front of the lynching historical marker in Annapolis.
    Commentary: BGE rate increase unaffordable for many Maryland families
    Many Maryland families can’t afford a multiyear rate increase proposed by Baltimore Gas and Electric, Marceline White, executive director of Economic Action Maryland, says.
    A BGE truck in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood on Friday, Oct. 14, 2022.
    One year after Gunpowder manager’s arrest, state park system gets an overhaul
    When Maryland’s acting state parks Superintendent Angela Crenshaw visits parks, she goes over a few rules with staff members. Be nice. Be safe. Keep body to self.
    Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz  and acting parks Superintendent Angela Crenshaw are seen outside of the  Department of Natural Resources headquarters in Annapolis on Sept. 22, 2023. The two discussed developing strategies to reform the agency since the arrest of prominent Park Ranger Michael J. Browning.
    Commentary: Marylanders among those hit hard by student loan debt crisis
    Federal student loan payments are due to resume Oct. 1, and an additional burden confronts some borrowers, including some Marylanders, because of inequities in student loan programs, says Ian Williams, a consumer protection paralegal at the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service.
    WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 12: Student loan borrowers gather near The White House to tell President Biden to cancel student debt on May 12, 2020 in Washington, DC.
    National Cathedral replaces windows honoring Confederacy with stained-glass homage to racial justice
    The cathedral had removed the old windows after Confederate symbols featured prominently in recent racist violence.
    The new windows, titled “Now and Forever," are based on a design by artist Kerry James Marshall. Stained-glass artisan Andrew Goldkuhle crafted the windows.
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