maryland
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Baltimore Mayor Takes Indefinite Leave of Absence Amid Book Scandal
Starting today, Baltimore City Council President Bernard “Jack” Young will assume mayoral duties in place of the city’s mayor, Catherine Pugh, who announced she was taking an indefinite leave of absence on Monday. While Mayor Pugh cites health reasons for the leave—her statement said she has been fighting pneumonia “for the past few weeks”—her office…
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How I Got My Black Card
I stand before you today a black woman with a shocking secret: I wasn’t born black. I know what you’re thinking (#NoDolezal). And I assure you that on a frigid winter day in the early Reagan era, my parents did indeed bring home a peanut butter-colored baby. But the Council of Negrotude (AKA my extended…
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Supreme Court Hears Arguments on the Future of Political Gerrymandering
This year, a Supreme Court stacked with conservative judges may finally decide the fate of political gerrymandering. The issue comes up to the Supreme Court again on Tuesday when judges will hear oral arguments involving redrawn district maps—one involving a Democrat-controlled legislature in Maryland, the other a Republican legislature in North Carolina. If it feels…
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I Tried to Land a Date From a Street Sign
We sit around the dining room table on the cusp of the itis. Somehow we gather enough energy to keep the party going into dessert—homemade flan. I slide my spoon into the substance. I’m a picky eater with immature taste buds. I already know the outcome. I do not repeat. “So, y’all got any friends,…
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Lawmaker Stricken By Rare, Selective Amnesia That Makes Her Forget Saying the N-Word in Front of Black Colleagues
It happens to us all. Even the smartest people have momentary lapses of memory when they misplace the car keys; can’t recall if they unplugged the iron or forget when they called a majority black county the n-word in public. Well, that’s what happened to Maryland Democrat Mary Ann Lisanti, who, according to the Washington…
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Baltimore’s Marilyn Mosby Becomes Latest Top Attorney to Stop Prosecuting Marijuana Cases But Faces Major Hurdle—the Police
Marijuana possession cases will no longer be prosecuted in Baltimore, regardless of how much marijuana is found or whether the person has a criminal record. Marilyn Mosby, the State’s attorney for Baltimore, made the announcement on Tuesday, making her the latest prosecutor to move away from trying marijuana cases. “We need to get serious about…
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Middle School Teachers Are Saints
When I was younger, say 7 or 8 years old, I wanted to be an astronaut/pediatric neurosurgeon/inventor/NBA player. Though my life has been successful, it’s safe to say I’ve stopped just short of being the most awesome multi-hyphenate careerist of all time. By the time I hit my teen years, I wanted to be some…
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And Here's Why You Shouldn't Pick a Dentist Based On A Radio Ad
I don’t try to make bad choices. Really, I don’t. In fact, I don’t think most people set out to do make them either. I think we all end up in a place we hoped not to be and in retrospect say, well, that was probably a bad idea. Such was my life this past week…
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Black Man Graciously Helps Intoxicated Neighbor, Gets Arrested for Some Silly Shit
23-year-old Samir Ahmed was just helping a neighbor in his own community…until the police got involved and arrested him. On the morning of Nov. 17, someone called police to help a drunk man who was in and out of consciousness in a Silver Spring, Maryland, community. In the interim, Ahmed graciously helped the inebriated man…
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Univ. of Maryland Football Player Jordan McNair Died and No One Has Been Held Accountable
On May 29, University of Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair was exhausted. He and the team were running 110-yard sprints in the hot sun during offseason conditioning drills. Maryland is not a football school. It never has been. Despite a few good seasons in the past which included some national rankings and low-level bowl games,…