Commentary

Black men and women are at a constant disadvantage. Despite our talent, strengths, and what we have to offer, we face barriers and misconceptions. TikTok allows people like me to be heard.  Often, Black parents will tell their children something along the lines of “you have to work twice as hard for half the recognition.” This is something I hear constantly as a Black female entrepreneur. And, unfortunately, there a reason for this common expression.

According to the latest U.S. National Climate Assessment, extreme weather events cost the United States nearly $150 billion each year, disproportionately hurting poor and disadvantaged communities. These events cast a long shadow on our economic landscape. Whether it’s a wildfire in Maui, hurricanes in Florida or flooding in New York City, the impacts of these disasters ripple across multiple sectors of the economy, leaving a trail of asset devaluation and increased insurance costs.

I have tried-and-true holiday traditions that make the season bright, or at least quirky: my collection of Black nutcrackers that look like celebrities (I just scored a Santa that resembles “S.W.A.T.” star Shemar Moore), the Christmas morning viewing of “Die Hard” as I try to remember where I stashed all the presents I’ve been hiding from my kid and, now, a new one — my annual interview with John Waters.

In October 2023, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) made history as one of the first statewide associations of public school boards to declare climate action an essential component of adequate and equitable school facilities. As a parent leader for climate action in Prince George’s County and the state of Maryland, I could not be prouder of MABE’s commitment.

After working for more than a year to review 35 books because a few parents wanted them removed from school libraries, the Frederick County Public Schools decided it would remove one book. Two additional books will be removed from library circulation at the middle school level. One book on the original complaint list was previously removed because of questions about its veracity. And that is all.

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.