Commentary

Greenbury Point is a beautiful peninsula, stretching out to the Chesapeake Bay between the Severn River and Whitehall Bay. You can spot it just south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge by its three “Eiffel Towers,” relics of a radio transmission network for Navy submarines during the Cold War. And you can recognize it as one of a handful of spots on the map that are key to expanded public access to the bay near Annapolis. It is, to stretch a sports metaphor to the breaking point, a fairway to the Chesapeake.

I’m not yet a year and a half into my career. It will be 2 1/2 years until I lose my first student, my first lovely, to bullets. I’ll be told I’m lucky it took that long. It is December 2012, and on this particular Friday morning, my lovelies and I are huddled in the corner of my classroom. In a few years, when we do this, it will be because we’re hiding — as far away from the door as we can, silent and still. When that eventually happens, every time I will feign calm, and every time, because I never know if it’s a drill or a disaster, I will text my family.

As the 2024 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly begins, I would like to provide a cautionary tale for those legislators and advocates working on health care bills. Even if a health care bill successfully passes the legislature, implementation may be virtually non-existent. Why? Health care laws, like any laws, require active oversight by governmental agencies. The situation in our state is complicated. Many bills point to the state agency called the Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) as the lead in oversight.

Perhaps it’s because higher education has been so much in the news lately, but Mayor Brandon Scott’s newly unveiled plan to combat vacant housing has the feel of a hastily written undergraduate term paper. It’s overly complicated, insanely ambitious and depends on funding that simply isn’t there. The cynical among us might assume the incumbent is more focused on the Democratic primary five months from now than on offering a realistic proposal to redevelop Baltimore’s scourge of abandoned properties.

In the history of any city, there are a few pivotal moments that will define the urban landscape for generations to come, for better or for worse. Opened 43 years ago as a symbol of Baltimore’s revitalization, few projects have had more significance in Baltimore’s modern history than Harborplace. Its impending rebirth has been awaited anxiously by all who care about our city. The new renderings of Harborplace have prompted the full spectrum of reactions, from ubiquitous political cheerleading to pointed design critiques from UDAAP (the Urban Design & Architecture Advisory Panel) and members of the architectural community.

For so many of us in Baltimore and Maryland, our history is a reminder of what our faith calls us to do: serve. As former pastor of Union Baptist Church and now through my work with the Beloved Community Services Organization in Baltimore, I’m committed to continue the work of those who came before me by advancing the mission of the Civil Rights Movement while serving underserved communities.

You are invited to join Chase Brexton Health Care’s 2024 signature event of the year A Gala for the New Roaring ‘20s on Saturday, March 30, at the Baltimore Museum of Art. It’s a night for gathering, socializing, bubbly & cheer, laughter & merriment. Put on the ritz and join us in your most dolled up and dapper flapper-inspired, black-tie ensemble for an evening of culinary delights, live music, dancing, and razzmatazz in support of the health of all in our communities.

Harvard economists Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren released in 2018 their groundbreaking research on the role that geography plays in shaping a child’s chances of future success. They collected a list of the 100 largest counties in America, and Baltimore ranked last in the nation for the social mobility of poor children.