Politics

Mayor Dixon Announces Her Resignation

CEM — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:22:52 -0600

Mayor Sheila Dixon’s pending resignation is a real tragedy both politically and personally.

We don’t know the details of the bargain she made with the judge and the prosecutors, although that will all come out shortly. My guess is that there will not be another trial and that she will fight to keep her pension. I predict that she may run again in the future.

It is hard to say what a Stephanie Rawlings-Blake administration will be like. The hope is that she will keep on some key personnel to make the transition easier for our city. However, rumors abound that Frederick Bealefeld’s tenure as police commissioner will be short under acting Mayor Rawlings-Blake. Many feel that the pending acting Mayor, along with her ally Governor Martin O’Malley, did want to see Bealefeld named commissioner, that they favored former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey. The commissioner believes that public safety comes first and that massive arrests are not the way to ensure the safety of the public. He is a tough, smart cop who needs the years ahead of him to turn the culture of the department around.

I have questioned Mayor Dixon about her integrity on my program on such issues as voting on the Board of Estimates to give contracts to Utech (a company that employed her sister), taking free tickets to an event at 1st Mariner Arena, and awarding a computer contract to her campaign manager--if you remember, a contract paid out in sums small enough to not have to be disclosed officially. But she was not indicted for any of those events. She was indicted for perjury because she did not disclose fur coats given to her by her boyfriend, albeit a contractor. She was found guilty of taking less than $600 in gift cards. What happened in the state prosecutor's office that they could not indict her on issues of substance?!

The mayor has made some bad personal blunders. But I don’t think they merit her going to jail or having to resign. She should have apologized to this city, and the whole mess should have been a matter for an ethics hearing that could have forced her to repay the money and face the voters. I find using gift cards meant for poor children to be abhorrent, but it's hardly an offense worthy of resignation.

Having said that I do not think Mayor Dixon should go to jail over these offenses, I want to add that I don’t think anyone else should, either. Thousands of people have languished in the Baltimore Detention Center for stealing far less than the mayor did. This should be a call to reform our entire justice system.

We will see what the administration of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake brings to us. More importantly, I hope we see the people of this city bring something to her, to force some creative thinking about the problems we face and to build our own dynamic future.

Marc on Last Night's Elections

CEM — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:53:03 -0600

photo by Michael Cantor

Last Night's Elections

Woke up this morning to the headlines about last night’s elections. Republican wins for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia, gay marriage overturned in Maine and the much ballyhooed battle over the 23^rd New York Congressional District was a lesson about the future of Republican conservatism.

The elections in NJ and Virgina should be a wake up call to the Obama White House and Democratic leadership. I fear they won’t be. American voters put Obama into office because they had real hope that it was not going to be politics as usual. Many feel their hopes are being dashed.

In Virginia, enough of a portion of Obama’s base among progressives, young people and African Americans stayed home to hand a defeat to an uninspiring and lackluster Democratic candidate and campaign.

In New Jersey, a Democratic Governor with deep ties to Goldman Sachs and Wall Street (much like Obama's inner circle) went down to defeat in a failing economy, unemployment, distrust of corporate capitalists, and disappointment in the hopes that he was a reformer.

In New York City, Bloomberg barely won for the exact same reasons that Corzine lost.

It is interesting that even though most Americans say they are satisfied with their health insurance, a majority of Americans, 56% at the least, want a strong public option. A majority of Americans are upset or very angry at a bail out and stimulus that seems to be going to the financial industry and not touching the lives of ordinary people. Citizens are worried about their jobs, paying for the needs of their children, the rising cost and intensity of just living normal lives day to day. The economic issues, not health care, are the issue gripping America.

The defeat in New York shows that, even in Republican districts, the harsh, mean spirited, hate-filled, conservative, Fox-fueled, Limbaugh, crippled point of view is an anathema to most Americans.

What Obama and the Democrats need to learn from this is that many Americans are upset that he has come into office and conducted things as his predecessors would have done. He is surrounded by Wall Street and the financial industry interests seem to be cleaning up with our money, killing new regulations to safeguard people, and none of the stimulus money is going to jobs or saving our homes from foreclosures.

What they need do have done is to have fought for a public option to counter the interest of insurance and pharmaceuticals. A very simple, straight forward message of health reform that would have inspired Obama’s millions to back him and force Congress to respond.

I fear the message they will hear from this is to play the same conciliatory game even harder than they have done before. The uninspired will not inspire us to support them.

Gay Marriage Referendum

We have come a long way since we thought sweet Uncle Harry was a little light in his loafers and spinster Aunt Peggy was just a little different than the rest of us. A majority of Americans have come to accept an open gay and lesbian world and support equal rights for gays and lesbian. But most of our citizens are not ready for gay marriage. It might have passed in Vermont, or San Francisco, or New York City, or Eugene, Oregon, even in Salt Lake City. The young and the urban cosmopolitan worlds are there. The battle will continue, it just might take a little longer.

A First-Person Account From Iran

CEM — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:35:55 -0500

(WARNING: You may find the images of death and violence contained below disturbing. Please do not scroll down if you do not wish to see them.)

I received this post from our colleague, William Kern, the Managing Editor of WORLDMEETS.US, last night, before the images hit the newspapers this morning. It is part of this continuing dialogue with his friend and colleague in Iran. Below is their very moving and telling conversation via Skype.

While the world of the web, Twitter and Facebook, may be driving this Iranian revolt in ways we could not imagine forty years ago, or even 5 years ago, it is part of a tradition that is much older and deeper.

In my lifetime it is connected to the 1956 revolt in Hungary against the Soviet Union’s domination of their nation. The world watched in awe, but that is all we did was watch, as the Soviet troops and tanks mowed down the resistance fighters and crushed their revolution. The same thing happened again in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1968, when lovers of freedom stood up against the Soviets demanding freedom. At that time it was part of a worldwide revolutionary movement for change that grew out of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960’s here in America. We had our own standoffs with the police and the establishment powers of our nation, which used its federal power through efforts like COINTELPRO to intimidate and murder those who stood against the war and racism.

In recent years, we have seen Tiananmen Square and the demonstrations in China in 1989, the bursts of Burmese resistance in 2007 against their own tyranny, and the Tibetans demanding freedom from the Chinese government. We could see all these as defeats; I suppose in their immediate aftermath they felt like stunning losses.

Having been part of movements like this in my past I understand the intensity, passion and power of those moments. How quickly events change around you. How the spirit of resistance kept your spirits high enough to face any response. Even when you knew the moment was lost, you could not back down to the might around you.

If the Iranian rebellion is crushed, it will not be a defeat. It is a part of a continuum of resistance to tyranny and working to create a culture of justice and human rights in our world. Every such powerful moment widens the cracks in the weakening walls of oppression. It sows seeds for the power of change in generations to follow.

Already in Iran we are seeing deep divides, even within the ruling circles of the theocracy. Who knows how all this will unfold in the days ahead?

The photograph and Skype dialogue below shows us the power of this moment. The photo itself should sear itself into the consciousness of the world as a symbol of why we stand for freedom.

-marc

(The name of the Iranian has been removed to protect his identity.)

[12:45:35 AM] willkern: Are you alright, ________?
[12:50:06 AM] ________: hi
[12:50:09 AM] ________: i am ok
[12:50:20 AM] willkern: Vey good
[12:50:23 AM] willkern: very good
[12:50:32 AM] ________: but yesterday was horrible
[12:50:57 AM] willkern: We have all been holding our breath since the Supremo's speech
[12:51:17 AM] willkern: You are not alone - the whole world is riveted
[12:51:22 AM] ________: even my brother received club strokes
[12:51:40 AM] willkern: These will be very treacherous weeks
[12:51:50 AM] willkern: But I state the obvious
[12:51:58 AM] ________: and a young girl was killed
[12:52:36 AM] willkern: We have seen the photos - you would be amazed by the torrent of information that's getting out, my friend
[12:52:50 AM] ________: yes
[12:52:57 AM] willkern: This is all happening in the open
[12:52:57 AM] ________: this is the facebook revolution
[12:53:00 AM] ________: twitter revolution
[12:53:37 AM] ________: regimes is trying to restrict the routes connecting us to teh world
[12:53:42 AM] willkern: Power never concedes without a fight
[12:53:48 AM] ________: yes
[12:53:58 AM] ________: and Mousavi announced he is prepared to be killed
[12:54:00 AM] willkern: It will not end easily - it is a war of wills
[12:54:17 AM] willkern: I know - it's quite a dramatic development
[12:54:22 AM] ________: I don't really know how much he will come with people
[12:54:34 AM] ________: but he has taken these few steps well
[12:54:39 AM] willkern: He has become a symbol that even he has little control over
[12:54:48 AM] ________: Khatami lost similar opportunities ten years ago
[12:55:08 AM] ________: Khatami did not have the courage to call the people to streets
[12:55:13 AM] ________: but Musavi could
[12:55:19 AM] ________: and this is an advantage
[12:55:40 AM] willkern: I'm going crazy looking for content about Iran AND the United States
[12:55:50 AM] ________: http://aghaejaze.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/neda2.jpg?w=468&h=269

[12:56:02 AM] ________: she is the girl who was shot dead
[12:56:08 AM] ________: look at her eyes
[12:56:12 AM] ________: a world of hope
[12:56:20 AM] willkern: ________ - all of our news coverage has her face blurred
[12:56:22 AM] ________: and love for freedom is waving in her eyes
[12:56:54 AM] ________: yes I see footage in some tvs
[12:57:03 AM] ________: they have done so
[12:57:36 AM] ________: this story has brought all Iranians under a single flag
[12:57:51 AM] ________: even the Iranians who never engaged in politics in Europe and US
[12:58:00 AM] ________: are now express sympathy
[12:58:08 AM] ________: these are great days in our history
[12:58:14 AM] willkern: But ________ - what about among the poor? It is said that Ahmadinejad has tremendous support among the least advantaged and educated
[12:58:36 AM] ________: well I think the movement has spread from the north of Tehran
[12:58:39 AM] ________: to the center
[12:58:59 AM] ________: and may spread to poorer slums
[12:59:17 AM] ________: but it is natural that in small towns and villages there is no considerable movement
[12:59:24 AM] ________: I have experienced another revolution
[12:59:27 AM] ________: in 1979
[12:59:39 AM] ________: the wave of movement reaches these parts lately
[12:59:46 AM] willkern: Look ________ - I am glad you are still in one piece - but this could be the most dangerous time - so let's not talk politics
[12:59:56 AM] ________: and conservative people in these parts usually wait and see
[1:00:05 AM] ________: they like to be assured of the balance of power
[1:00:11 AM] willkern: The crackdomn is likely to get much worse before it gets better
[1:00:15 AM] ________: ok
[1:00:19 AM] willkern: crackdown ..
[1:00:40 AM] willkern: I want you to know that billions support you --
[1:00:41 AM] ________: The crackdown will produce a reverse result
[1:00:54 AM] ________: thank you
[1:00:58 AM] ________: this is a cause of humanity
[1:01:02 AM] ________: not just we Iranians
[1:01:06 AM] ________: the Chinese
[1:01:13 AM] ________: people in Burma
[1:01:18 AM] willkern: This may take some time - but this could the beginning
[1:01:23 AM] ________: in every other country
[1:01:27 AM] willkern: of a great change
[1:01:32 AM] ________: yes
[1:01:42 AM] ________: this time the people may be defeated
[1:01:52 AM] ________: but they have taken a step forward
[1:02:00 AM] willkern: There is no way to know - because the leadership is split
[1:02:05 AM] ________: and this defeat is different from the previous one
[1:02:10 AM] willkern: Now take care my friend -
[1:02:14 AM] ________: ok
[1:02:22 AM] ________: thank you for your consideration
[1:02:33 AM] ________: we thank everybody who follow up our situation
[1:02:43 AM] willkern: Take the least possible risk, ________
[1:02:50 AM] ________: ok
[1:03:02 AM] willkern: I know you will do what you think is right
[1:03:08 AM] ________: I would have liked to be on the field on Saturday
[1:03:19 AM] ________: but my mother begged me not to go
[1:03:38 AM] ________: though she herself went to the demonstration
[1:03:40 AM] willkern: If I were in your shoes - I do not know what I would do
[1:03:56 AM] ________: she says she can never come from this prison to that
[1:04:01 AM] ________: as she did for ten years
[1:04:14 AM] willkern: She is a brave lady
[1:04:19 AM] ________: yes
[1:04:31 AM] ________: in 60s she still like to be with the youth in actions
[1:04:38 AM] willkern: Do what you think will do the most good, my friend
[1:04:46 AM] ________: ok
[1:04:49 AM] willkern: Right
[1:04:53 AM] ________: of course I always think of your advice
[1:05:13 AM] willkern: For my part - I am working on an article from the French on the crisis and will post it soon.
[1:05:25 AM] ________: ok
[1:05:31 AM] willkern: Go with God my friend
[1:05:34 AM] ________: I’d like to read it when you’re finished
[1:05:39 AM] ________: tnx
[1:05:46 AM] ________: take care friend
[1:05:49 AM] ________: bye for now
[1:05:57 AM] willkern: You know where to find me
[1:06:06 AM] ________: yes I know
[1:06:06 AM] ________: always
[1:06:17 AM] ________: I also have a facebook page
[1:06:23 AM] ________: you can visit it
[1:06:25 AM] willkern: What is it>
[1:06:27 AM] willkern: ?
[1:06:38 AM] willkern: I will share it
[1:06:43 AM] ________: I have it with real name
[1:06:50 AM] ________: ________
[1:06:54 AM] willkern: I'll share it if you want me to
[1:07:00 AM] ________: yes
[1:07:02 AM] ________: waiting for u
[1:07:21 AM] ________: what is your facebook Id?
[1:07:46 AM] willkern: William Kern
[1:07:55 AM] ________: i will add u
[1:08:05 AM] willkern: Please do, my friend.
[1:08:07 AM] ________: ok
[1:08:13 AM] ________: well i must go
[1:08:18 AM] ________: bye
[1:08:20 AM] willkern: I don’t look at it too often - but more and more lately
[1:08:21 AM] ________: dear will
[1:08:27 AM] willkern: Until we meet again
[1:08:38 AM] ________: with hope
[1:08:43 AM] ________: hope never dies
[1:08:45 AM] ________: bye
[1:09:29 AM] willkern: Talk to you soon, my friend.

Update: Here is a subsequent conversation they had earlier today.

[10:43:45 AM] willkern: ________ - are you and your family alright?
[10:44:10 AM] ________: yes
[10:44:15 AM] ________: I am all right
[10:44:17 AM] ________: how are u?
[10:44:38 AM] ________: only my sister and brother lashed by security forces on Saturday
[10:44:41 AM] ________: and nothing else
[10:44:50 AM] willkern: I'm working every moment to find more content I can post
[10:45:20 AM] ________: unfortunately my facebook faces errors so that i can't add you
[10:45:23 AM] willkern: We are all thinking about you and watching
[10:45:35 AM] ________: this trouble I think is for the restrictions imposed by regime
[10:45:40 AM] willkern: There will be a time for that
[10:45:46 AM] ________: yes
[10:45:54 AM] ________: here the girl NEDA
[10:46:00 AM] ________: has turned to be the symbol of the movement
[10:46:06 AM] ________: that poor innocent girl
[10:46:15 AM] willkern: I posted the picture and video in the last story I posted
[10:46:22 AM] ________: thank you very much
[10:46:34 AM] ________: we need a global campaign in support of Iran
[10:46:44 AM] willkern: I have received three or four e-mails from people about that
[10:46:48 AM] ________: I admire Americans and Europeans for their sympathy
[10:47:04 AM] willkern: Oh believe me, ________ - you have a global campaign
[10:47:19 AM] ________: BBC Persian covers the events broadly
[10:47:31 AM] willkern: Can you read it?
[10:47:31 AM] ________: as well as Aljazeera Alarabiya etc
[10:47:48 AM] ________: your article?
[10:47:58 AM] willkern: BBC Persia
[10:48:06 AM] ________: yes
[10:48:13 AM] ________: we have satellite receivers here
[10:48:21 AM] ________: this is the best source for us
[10:48:30 AM] willkern: I hear that BBC Persia has started adding satellites to make sure the signal gets through
[10:48:50 AM] ________: it had to move from Hotbird to other satellite transponders
[10:49:04 AM] ________: and we receive it through Nile Sat
[10:49:28 AM] ________: today the workers installing satellite receivers equipment have a brisk market :D
[10:49:46 AM] ________: people are decisive to break this news boycott
[10:50:04 AM] willkern: How does it feel in the street now?
[10:50:16 AM] ________: today streets were relatively calm
[10:50:20 AM] willkern: Can you walk around freely?
[10:50:28 AM] ________: tomorrow the people may gather in two squares of Tehran
[10:50:47 AM] ________: sparodic clashes happend but not as broad as saturday
[10:50:57 AM] ________: you can see pics on news.gooya.com
[10:51:07 AM] ________: it is of course Farsi-language
[10:51:23 AM] willkern: I will look at that
[10:51:33 AM] ________: http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089690.php
[10:51:35 AM] willkern: I discovered yesterday ________ =-
[10:51:49 AM] ________: this shows that even some clerics have joined the demonstration
[10:51:56 AM] willkern: That Google now has a machine translator for Persian
[10:52:13 AM] ________: yes
[10:52:30 AM] ________: and i heard google has made it possible to see tehran streets online
[10:52:49 AM] ________: http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089608.php
[10:52:54 AM] willkern: Google Earth?
[10:53:09 AM] ________: yesterday BBC showed footages from Tohid Sq. in Tehran
[10:53:26 AM] ________: it was unbelievable how people stormed adn police had to retriet
[10:53:29 AM] willkern: I will use these photos
[10:53:38 AM] ________: this has happened for the first time in the last 30 years
[10:53:52 AM] ________: I think it is through Google earth
[10:53:54 AM] willkern: How do you feel inside, my friend
[10:54:19 AM] ________: one min excuse me
[10:58:01 AM] willkern: Wow - these pictures are amazing. Iranian women are incredibly brave
[10:58:33 AM] ________: yes
[10:58:43 AM] ________: Iranian women are true heroes
[10:59:06 AM] ________: they save men from police
[10:59:29 AM] ________: a writer has told the new iranian revolution is a woman revoution
[10:59:45 AM] ________: this struggle may be defeated again
[10:59:52 AM] ________: but people learned many things
[10:59:56 AM] ________: and experienced new things
[11:00:09 AM] ________: they believed their power and overcame their fear
[11:00:51 AM] ________: http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089610.php
[11:01:16 AM] willkern: ________ - I just hope that the power struggle with the leadership is resolved in favor of change
[11:01:34 AM] willkern: Look ________ - you stay as safe as possible. I have to go back to work and make use of all this
[11:01:43 AM] ________: http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089663.php
[11:02:00 AM] ________: and this picture has this caption: The photo the shook the world!

[11:02:09 AM] willkern: That picture is particularly striking
[11:02:41 AM] willkern: Thank you for the links my friend.
[11:02:56 AM] willkern: I'll be here all day working
[11:07:18 AM] ________: ok, have nice time but take care of yourself
[11:07:22 AM] ________: be healthy and happy
[11:07:29 AM] ________: I should go William
[11:07:37 AM] ________: bye

Andres Alonso Blasts Michael Steele

CEM — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:59:38 -0600

Michael Steele is making numerous headlines today for his apology to Rush Limbaugh. Locally, he is also making headlines after being called out by Baltimore School's CEO Andres Alonso at a public forum which also featured Governor Martin O'Malley last night at Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore. Alonso demanded an apology from Steele for promises he made to that school in the past, which he never kept.

Our reporter Melody Simmons was there. Click the podcast player to hear her recording of Alonso's remarks on Steele, and also on Governor O'Malley.

Marc on Mayor Dixon's Indictment

marc — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:36:11 -0600

I hate watching this happen. It is no small matter for a sitting Mayor to be indicted.

I have known Sheila Dixon for over thirty years. We are not close friends. We have not been in a private social setting together in 32 years. We met when we were both counselors and teachers at Baltimore Prep, a program at Westside Shopping Center for street kids who had just come out of prison or had been kicked out of school, whose lives were on the corner instead of the classroom. Sheila was committed to those kids. She didn’t take any stuff from them and she knew every game they could play, because she came from the same streets that they did. Baltimore Prep is also where she met Mark Smith, who later became her husband, with whom she raised her nephew Juan Dixon and his brother. The boys’ parents had died from heroin addiction. Sheila and Mark saw those boys to manhood. This is the Sheila Dixon I know.

I knew her a little in the intervening years. I remember when she was first elected to the city council. I remember when she banged her shoe on the table exclaiming it was our turn now. She was committed to working class black folks. She lived and knew their pain, joys and struggles. A lot of white journalists, politicians and others thought she hated white people. I don’t know what her innermost thoughts about race were, but I can say that anyone who came up in a certain way who was from a certain place had historical reasons to have a mistrust of white people. Whatever she thought then, however, she has grown from that place, as did William Donald Schaeffer from his place of not caring about Black folks before he became Mayor. She bleeds working class blue in her veins. That is the Sheila Dixon I know.

So, these indictments are just tragic. If they are true, they show stupidity and sheer greed.

As I wrote last week, the only difference between the actions of our city officials and indicted power developers, and goings on in Congress between politicians and corrupt corporate leaders, is the thin but sturdy line of legality.

Politicians are always doing favors for the powerful and their friends. It is part of human existence. Nevertheless, it was not the fur coats that bought Ron Lipscomb city contracts, but rather all of his city and corporate contacts.

I am not excusing anything here. If Sheila and others broke their sacred trust with us, they have to leave elected office at the very least. It cannot be tolerated.

The worst offence would be if she actually took gift certificates that were intended for poor families and children to enjoy Christmas. I hope that even if the bribery and malfeasance indictments are true, that stealing from street kids and poor families is not true. That could break a city’s heart.

That would not be the Sheila Dixon I know. Soon we will know whether she broke the law. If she did, then the court will decide her fate. If she is exonerated, she could become one of our greatest Mayors. If not, she will become one of our greatest disappointments and tragedies.

City Hall Indictments - Mayor Sheila Dixon Indicted

marc — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:38:43 -0600

Update: We just received news, at 2pm today (Friday January 9) that Mayor Dixon has been indicted on 12 counts. Read more in the Sun.

We will see what the day brings but the rumor mill has it that Sheila Dixon will be indicted today, just as Helen Holton and Ron Lipscomb were indicted yesterday.

My feeling is that if she had just declared those coats she would not be in front of a grand jury. If she had just recused herself from voting for a company her sister worked for there would be no investigation.

If Helen Holton had declared that Ron Lipsocmb paid for her poll then how she voted or what she pushed for would not be an issue.

It is not what they did but how stupidly they played the game. That for me is the issue.

Like Governor Blagojevich they were too blatant and not slick enough to get it done. Sure it was greed on some level but many politicians are greedy. Many participate in a life full of graft and influence buying but do it on the edge of the line of law so they get away with it. Notice I wrote many politicians not all. There are many men and women who are highly ethical in this business of politics. Most start that way but some get lost in the power.

Two articles recently in the New York Times brought home for me the glaring reality of it all. One was about New York Senator Chuck Schumer. He was accused of being one of the culprits in deregulating banking and Wall Street that led to this economic disaster we are facing. The article pointed out that Wall Street billions backed his campaigns and campaign fund/. In Congress he did their bidding.

The other article was about the junior Senator form New York, now Secretary of State designee, Hillary Clinton. She helped push through legislation that aided contributors to her husband’s foundation and library.

All this was all legal influence peddling. The corruption in the marriage of corporate wealth and political power is insidious. It must be exposed at every turn and reformed. It is how we ensure the survival of a real democracy.

Our local elected officials played the same game but on the wrong side of the thin but sturdy line of legality.

Register for the Annapolis Summit January 14!

CEM — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:06:38 -0600

January 14, 2009, 7-9:30 AM
Phillips Seafood Restaurant
12 Dock Street, Annapolis, MD 21401

Your chance to ask questions that matter to you!

Join Marc Steiner for a live two-hour broadcast on the opening day of the 2009 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session. For the 6th year, Marc will interview Maryland's leaders covering pertinent topics such as the financial crisis hitting Maryland and the country, environmental issues, the death penalty legislation and BRAC.

A breakfast buffet begins at 7:00 AM, followed by Marc's interview with Senate President Miller and Speaker Michael Busch from 7:30-8:30. Governor Martin O’Malley will be interviewed from 8:30-9:30. In each hour, time will be set aside for audience members to ask questions. The show will air on WEAA FM 88.9, in Baltimore and WSCL 89.9 FM in Salisbury.

Advance tickets can be purchased for $15 via Paypal by clicking here.

If you'd like to pay by check, please send to:

Center for Emerging Media

Attn: Annapolis Summit

3000 Chestnut Ave Suite C

Baltimore, MD 21211

Tickets will also be available at the door for $20.

For more information, call (443) 934-1111.

16 Arrested During Election Night Celebration in Charles Village

CEM — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:21:32 -0600

Here's a letter that we received and wanted to share with everyone. If anyone else would like to publicize first-hand information about the police misconduct in Charles Village on Election Night, or has other Election Night experiences they'd like to share, please post your comments here or email us at cem@centerforemergingmedia.org.

Marc,

During the night following the election, my roommates and I walked
down to 33rd and St. Paul and started celebrating the election of
Barack Obama. We quickly gained support of local students, and our
group of seven quickly grew to over 400. What was a beautifully
patriotic evening, filled with unity and gentle celebration, quickly
turned into fear and chaos as the Baltimore Police Department randomly
(and illegally) assaulted, intimidated, and arrested many members of a
peaceful crowd.

Last Spring, President Ungar invited you to speak at Goucher to a
group of Goucher students, faculty, and staff. President Ungar
personally invited me at the last moment, claiming it was essential
that I hear you speak. Your discussion inspired me to want to get more
involved with our city, and this semester several of my friends and I
moved down to Charles Village from Towson, in order to become true
Baltimoreans.

On November 4, the six of us - all sophomores at Goucher, voted
for the first time. Sending in my absentee ballot to my native
California was one of the most exciting things I have ever done, and
we were all excited to partake in making history. Just a month before
hearing you speak at Goucher, I had the opportunity to shake now
President-elect Obama's hand at an election rally in Wilmington. I
took the train up to Wilmington by myself, and I instantly befriended
a group of students from the University of Delaware. The feeling of
unity was overwhelming, and I instantly knew this campaign was unlike
anything else in history.

The night of Nov. 4th was no exception. My roommates and I had to get
outside to celebrate. People joined quickly and we were suddenly
flanked by members of the community, students from several
institutions, schoolteachers, and professors - all united and chanting
"USA! USA!". The Hopkins Campus Security respected the crowd and kept
it under control, and it became a truly beautiful event. I was
surrounded by people I had never met before, of all colors: black and
white, Muslim and Jewish, old and young, from near and far all
celebrating under American flags.

You have already heard about what the police did last night. They
arrested two of my roommates and another one of my friends, for
reasons that were never disclosed. I stood and watched while my
roommate, a 19-year-old girl from New Jersey, was grabbed by the
throat by two policemen twice her size and had her arms bound so
tightly behind her back, she was screaming in agony.

I have talked with Goucher President Sanford Ungar, and he has already tried to help us get our
voice heard. The fact is that this happens every night in this city,
without a single mention in the Sun or on the local TV news. These
students and the professor that were arrested were never told their
rights and were fingerprinted, photographed, intimidated, and forced
to spend hours in cells with people charged with violent crimes.
Fortunately, my friends and the rest of these aforementioned sixteen
that were arrested are lucky enough to be backed up by institutions
like Goucher College and Johns Hopkins University.

I know this letter is far from brief, and I appreciate that you have
taken the time to read this. I was inspired by your discussion at
Goucher, and wanted to know what I could do to change something in
this city. I think Baltimore is a beautiful place buried in an
inconceivable amount of filth. Before election day I couldn't fathom
how I could help, or what I could even help with. I now know the
intricacies of how the Baltimore Police Department detains citizens
without Mirandizing them, charging them, or respecting their basic
freedoms. I feel I can speak on behalf of everyone who witnessed
Tuesday night's atrocities when I say that we want to help.

The sixteen people arrested last night were picked randomly. It could
have been anyone. I have spoken with and know personally several of
those arrested and can tell you that they were all respectable and
respectful citizens that have done so much already to make this city a
better place. Will these volunteers, public school teachers, artists,
and professors voices be drowned out?

I hope not.

Thank you again for speaking to us at Goucher. Baltimore needs you,
and is lucky to have you.

Thank you,

Nick Bourland
Goucher College class of 2011

Day After the Election by Marc Steiner

CEM — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:25:33 -0600

Last night, I went to my daughter Chelsea’s home to watch the returns. She was having a watch party. It was the perfect venue for that night for many reasons. Chelsea’s mom, Sayida Stone, my first wife and a dear friend, is African American. Chelsea is a Black woman, a mixed race child of America. She has three children, my grand children. Their father, Ebon, a schoolteacher, martial artist and musician, is Afro-Italian-Puerto Rican. From the beginning, Chelsea was deeply moved by Obama’s candidacy. It was their time, it was their day, and it is their time now.

Chelsea’s sister, Alana, her mom’s daughter with her husband who is Jamaican, is 21 years old, a brilliant artist and a junior at MICA. I call her my daughter once removed, she calls me Saba, which is Hebrew for grandfather. Alana was there with a dozen of her classmates. Young, African American, Latino, Asian, mixed race and white who worked for this campaign, who believed in this message of hope.

Chelsea’s friends who were there ranged from 28 to their early forties, every color of the American rainbow. Her mom, her husband Jenel, and others of our generation were there, as well.

The feeling in her home was electric and explosive, but explosive with peace and hope. When Obama was announced the next President of the Untied States of America, there was a pandemonium of joy, screaming, shouting, hugging, singing and champagne corks popping.

I looked around realizing this was their day. These young people believed so deeply and were so full of what the future might bring to us all.

While watching television it was hard not to notice the contrast between the Obama supporters in Grant Park in Chicago and the McCain supporters. Obama’s in a public park with thousands of people of every generation and race in America and McCain’s in a private club for the wealthy and all, well not all, but almost all, white.

This was an election of the two Americas from which we were born and in which we still live. Our great nation has no state religion. Our state religion is our democracy, our belief in freedom and liberty. The USA was founded on liberty and slavery in the same breath. Imagine that and think about that for a moment. Liberty and slavery are the foundations of our nation. The roots of the contradiction and the hope that dwell uneasily together in our nation’s soul were alive and palpable last night in this election.

Maybe the tenor is about to change. Race and racism hurt America. It is a deep wound in the Black American spirit. It is a burden of pain in white America, as well.

The man who was voted in to become the 44th President of the United States of America may be changing the tenor and tone of our nation. In the spirit of the civil rights warriors, he was unbowed and non-violent in his stand against his tormentors in this campaign. When Barack Obama was faced with lies and low blows dealt by his opponents, the Republican Party and their independent advocates, he responded with dignity, strength and love. So many of his supporters screamed that he should fight back, blow for blow and spit in their eye. Barack Obama chose to hold his head and his sense of morality and ethics high, so he kept walking straight ahead amidst the verbal blows and lies. He set a standard for his supporters and the America he believes in. The roots of that way of responding politically come from Martin Luther King, the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s that they gave birth to and that gave birth to them. It bodes well for what we may be able to do in America together.

I am not naïve about the difficulty that lies ahead of us. Barack Obama is not the savior; he is the embodiment of hope for many Americans. The struggle is now on to define our future. We can now fight for something rather than against it. We will have a seat at the table for the debate on our nation’s future. We have serious work ahead of us.

Good gumbo, too, last night... A gumbo of America in the room, a gumbo of America who voted Obama, and a great gumbo in the pot.

Change We Cannot Quit On by Stavros Halkias

CEM — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:49:29 -0600

Here are some thoughts written late last night by CEM intern and UMBC student Stavros Halkias. We'd like to encourage everyone to send in their post-election thoughts. Post comments here, email us at cem@centerforemergingmedia.org, or call us on the air today between 5-6pm at 410-319-8888.

Voting for the first time in my life was legitimately exciting. From the moment I entered my polling place, which happened to be my elementary school, I was overcome with emotion. In the building where I first learned what the office of the president was, I would have a hand in choosing the next person to occupy that office. Even better, I was supporting a candidate I actually believed in and held incredible hopes for. My nerves and elation were held together by an overarching sense of purpose. I was part of a societal change, with my ballot serving as tangible proof. Why can’t I feel like this everyday? Why can’t every day be Election Day?

Despite these feelings, as I walked out of that polling station I couldn’t help but wonder “What’s next?” Barack Obama had the kind of campaign and following that was unprecedented in this nation’s history. His campaign deposed Democratic royalty in the primaries, broke all kinds of fundraising records, and truly inspired vast numbers of people for the first time in decades. The sobering realization I came to was that campaigns and administrations are two very different things. Historically, the energy campaigns create largely dies after the immediate goal of election is met. We can’t allow that to happen this time. All the people who voted for Barack Obama on Tuesday, all the people that were part of the historic movement for change in our country, must challenge themselves further. To borrow a few words from the President elect’s victory speech, “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.”

So, don’t let things go back to the way they were before Barack came along. Don't rely solely on his administration to make change. Let Barack Obama's election be the beginning--not the end--of your efforts. Become more civically involved. Start helping your community in any way you can. Identify problems and work towards them yourself. Volunteer. Tutor at-risk youth. Protest injustice. Support more change-minded politicians. Study social change movements. Do something! Take the energy you put into the campaign and move it to your community, don’t let it go to waste. Don’t just get excited and wait for change-- make change and make everyday Election Day.

-Stavros Halkias