Commentary

Democracy is not just an idea. It is an action. It is also a stiff neck, a sore bottom and a parched throat. As a first-time election judge in a Baltimore City precinct on Election Day, I was actively “democracizing” — as in, practicing democracy while exercising. For roughly 13 hours straight, I welcomed and checked in nearly 1,000 voters, alongside two strangers who fast became my friends.

Local journalism is a cornerstone of democracy and a vital source of information for communities across the country, with newsrooms covering local politics, high school sports, local business openings, cultural events and other matters that help a community remain vibrant and connected. But the industry is facing an existential crisis because of the unyielding power of Big Tech platforms such as Google and Facebook.

Changes in the past week have been abrupt. A neighbor takes down her flowers. Migrating birds glean berries from the trees. Squirrels pick through the last fruits and treasures in lawns in stop-action screen freezes — scurry, dig, pause. Seasons are changing. The inevitability of the cycle is a reassuring counterpoint to headlines about the onrush of climate change in fires, floods and shifting shelves of polar ice.

For Maryland Republicans, there is likely little comfort in the thought that the drubbing they took in statewide contests Tuesday was to be expected. From U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s easy reelection win over perennial (yet-still-little-known) candidate Chris Chaffee to Del. Brooke Lierman’s historic victory over Harford County Executive Barry Glassman to become Maryland’s first woman to be elected state comptroller, Maryland voters showed a distinct preference for Democrats in 2022.

In the very first episode of ABC’s new hit drama “Alaska Daily,” a mother is having a frustrating conversation with a reporter. And she doesn’t trust her. Who can blame her? Sylvie doesn’t believe her. “Are you going to do what you always do?” Sylvie asks. “One sad story, and that’s it?” I have never been to Anchorage, where the occasionally uneven but increasingly excellent “Alaska Daily” is set, more than 71 hours and 4,267 miles from Baltimore. Still, I felt a rush of uncomfortable recognition at this scene, as a journalist, a Baltimorean and as a Black woman.

One of the most sobering statements from President Joe Biden’s speech this month on protecting democracy was one that might well have gone unnoticed by many who heard it or read about it. In the speech, Biden pointed out, “The remarkable thing about American democracy is this: Just enough of us, on just enough occasions, have chosen not to dismantle democracy but to preserve democracy.”

On Friday, we honor our nation’s veterans, a practice that goes back more than a hundred years to the end of the first world war. Politicians from Baltimore to Honolulu will make rousing speeches, as generations of politicians have done before them. As a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’m grateful that they value our service, but I think we can do better than empty rhetoric. When the U.S. government ended the draft in 1973 and adopted the all-volunteer force military model, it effectively segregated the armed forces from the rest of the country. Today, veterans account for only 7% of the U.S. adult population, meaning most Americans probably don’t know anyone with military experience.

Our conversations began in the summer of 2016, a few months before Donald Trump was elected president. A friend who worked in IT at a Fortune 500 company said he wanted to start monthly breakfasts to talk politics, sports and current events. I joined Joe, the IT manager, and Jon, an EPA lawyer. We were neighbors with center-left political leanings, but all of us had voted across the aisle on occasion. Over the past six years, the group has grown in unexpected ways and moved well beyond the realm of a typical coffee klatch. Although two early members have moved away, we now meet weekly for lunch and, at the suggestion of Joe, our founder, the group now spans much of the U.S. political and geographical spectrum.