The Democratic Party is on trial in Maryland by way of two races: the U.S. Senate race to replace the Barbara Mikulski and the Baltimore City mayoral race. In short, the powers that be in the Maryland politics have their picks.
In the Senate race, the establishment supports Congressman Chris Van Hollen. In the Baltimore City Mayor’s race, Senate President Mike Miller is a monumental supporter of Catherine Pugh.
As Dr. Wilbert Wilson stated on a recent WOLB 1010 AM news talk show, “Donna Edwards and Sheila Dixon: These two women will carry Maryland into a brand new day.” Wilson, the author of “The Power that Never Came,” suggests that the upcoming election is going to usher in a change that is long overdue.
One could suggest that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s lost to Republican challenger Larry Hogan sent a signal that the Maryland Democratic Party is in trouble. It is in trouble, I think, because for too long, it has ignored the needs of its most loyal demographic: African Americans.
Frankly, politics is a sophisticated game that only the most organized get their voices heard. People may not want to admit it, but there is a certain classism found in politics where few actually even want to be around poor people. And if we’re talking about the State of Maryland, then that would include a lot of black people.
Frederick Douglass, the famous Marylander who once beat up a slave breaker on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the heat of slavery, said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” He said that it never has and it never will.
Last April, the young people of Baltimore let the world know that the black community has some demands. What’s most disturbing, I must add, is that all through the riots, we saw people at Penn-North who never came there before the civil disturbance; nor, have they returned. They got their interview and bounced.
However, what is unfortunate is that it took the first civil unrest in Baltimore City in 47 years to actually get their attention. There is a classism in the community when some blacks don’t care for poor blacks. Why? They don’t vote anyway, some suggest.
But I am reminded of the day Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. It was Nov. 4, 2008. And on that day, I saw everybody in line in Sandtown voting. Regardless of folks’ station in life, I saw people lined up all the way outside the door. I have never seen that before; not here in Sandtown. But it did happen because people had mad love for him. That same energy must be harnessed again. Black people make up 30 percent of this state. And while we do indeed have a black President down the road, there are times when slavery still seems to be live and in full effect in Maryland.
I have witnessed our black politicians, time and time again, give away their power politically. We don’t need leaders who give away power. We need leaders who will use the power to serve the people.
This same Democratic monster – the one that did not support Kweisi Mfume for U.S. Senate or C. Anthony Muse for Senate – seems to think that a black person doesn’t deserve to be a U.S. Senator in 2016. Donna Edwards and Sheila Dixon have gone without the benefit of the Democratic establishment’s support. Their stubborn competitiveness in the race proves that, with or without the support of the establishment, they can, in fact, win.
–Doni Glover