Commentary

On the night before the start of the Democratic National Convention, while dozens of delegates from Maryland were gathering at an Irish pub along the Chicago River for their welcome party, I was on the South Side of Chicago, in the ornate but crumbling headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, for a tribute to the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In accepting her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday evening, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke enthusiastically of a “new way forward,” about healing divisions, about moving past cynicism and bitterness. She spoke of her background as a prosecutor, about her “unlikely” personal journey and warned, once again, about the dangers inherent in returning Donald Trump to the White House.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the floodgates to a patchwork of abortion restrictions across the United States. Now, in Maryland, abortion rights are on the ballot. I’m not just talking about this November’s ballot initiative that would enshrine reproductive freedom into the Maryland state constitution.

I grew up being very conservative, as my father was a Reagan Republican, but was already moving away from the party before 2016. The party I grew up with and believed in so much that I was a member of the Maryland Young Republicans was unrecognizable in 2016, but sadly it’s been very recognizable since. The party has eschewed conservative values to become a cult of personality with the single issue of white identity politics. The base has become one that sees that nation’s demographics slipping away from them and are terrified of an even playing field under which they would have to succeed on merit alone.

By now, Lyneir Richardson had hoped to start sharing some profits with the people who invested with him in the Walbrook Junction Shopping Center in West Baltimore. But something happened. The Rite Aid bankruptcy happened. And that’s no small thing. The Walbrook Rite Aid closed, leaving a huge empty space in the shopping center and a hole, for now, in Richardson’s ambition to grow wealth among Black families through what he calls “inclusive ownership.”

Along the Atlantic Coast, one species is supporting ecological and human health — the American horseshoe crab. In Maryland, horseshoe crabs are a common site on the coast and in coastal bays. Harvest pressures have jeopardized the future of this prehistoric arthropod species, leading to sharp population declines. Recent action, however, could reduce pressure on horseshoe crabs, promoting conservation.