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Black Voter Turnout Staggeringly Low in Baltimore City By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO At most, 36 percent of Black registered voters in Baltimore City voted in the 2014 General Election. Based on early exit poll data, the AFRO calculates a rough estimate of only 27.7 percent of voting age Blacks cast their ballots in Baltimore City. The experts predict that the actual number is likely much lower based on structural obstacles to voting as well as general voter apathy. According to Dr. John Bullock, assistant professor of political science at Towson University, that 27.7 percent figure likely significantly overstates the percentage of Blacks that actually turned out to vote. “Blacks actually tend to turn out less,” said Bullock, who notes that not only do a higher proportion of Whites tend to vote than Blacks, but that persons with higher income, education and who are older also vote at a more consistent rate. He indicated that Blacks in highly impoverished Baltimore City likely turned out at a rate even lower than the dismal 27.7 percent the AFRO was able to calculate based on available data.
Bullock says that many factors affect Black voter turnout in Baltimore. He notes that some of the common challenges are structural issues, such as general apathy and ineligibility to vote for convicted felons. Bullock believe the biggest issue is a lack of progress in people’s lived daily realities. “I think [the low turnout] has to do with the conditions that people have lived under for a number of years,” said Bullock. “They may look at their neighborhoods, their schools and public services, and [they may] not see much of a change whether they vote or not. So they figure, ‘Well, why vote anyway?’” For Catalina Byrd, an elections consultant who –Dr. John Bullock has worked with a number of campaigns in the state of Maryland, she says that Baltimore’s generational dynamics play an important role in suppressing turnout. Byrd notes that many older voters disengaged from the electoral process because they felt betrayed by the lack of progress under previous generation of Black civic leaders. “A byproduct of this is that [the older generation] didn’t teach their children the importance, or instill a value in the Continued on A3
“They may look at their neighborhoods, their schools and public services, and [they may] not see much of a change whether they vote or not. So they figure, ‘Well, why vote anyway?’”
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Incoming Delegates Antonio Hayes and Cory McCray Discuss Their Vision for Leadership By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO As the significance of last week’s electoral outcomes continues to unfold, a new, younger crop of delegates are reshaping what the Democratic party looks like in Baltimore City and Maryland. These newly elected leaders are less concerned with the civil rights and social issues that have dominated Baltimore’s political class since the 60s. They are now more focused on how they can use their office to create economic opportunities that move residents beyond the middle class. Recently, newly elected Continued on A6
Photo by Roberto Alejandro
Antonio Hayes (R) and Cory McCray, newly elected delegates to Baltimore’s 40th and 45th districts.
Obama Taps Into the Larry Young Morning Show By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent On Election Day, President Barack Obama appeared on “The Larry Young Show” on WOLB 1010AM to make a last appeal to Baltimore voters to get out and vote for the state’s Democratic candidates. “Grab your friends and neighbors and co-workers and go make sure they do the right thing, because a lot is at stake in terms of the progress we’ve made; we’ve got a lot more we’ve got to do,” he told the radio show host in the 10-minute interview. He later added, “’m not trying to sell people some sort of false hope…, things are not going to change overnight. But, we have made real progress, mainly because people voted in 2008 and voted for me in 2012 and I was able to get things done, like Obamacare, that are helping millions of people.” Young, a former state senator
and popular personality among the city’s Black residents, challenged the president’s request for more support. “Mr. President one of the biggest things that disturbs me is the fact that…you’re not on the ballot, but in many, many situations, truth be told, sir, you’re on the ballot because we’ve been there for you twice; we’ve had your back and we’re going to have your back. And your coming to us this morning, you’re asking us for the third time to have your back,” Young said. Obama pressed forward with his petition, however. “This is the last time that I’m going to be asking folks to vote while I’m still president,” he said. “[But], all the things we’ve fought for, all the things we’ve been trying to get done over the last several years depend on having folks in the statehouses and in Congress that care about what I care about, which is working families and Continued on A6
Photo by Freddie Allen, NNPA
Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown.
Ferguson Goes to the UN in Geneva: Stunt or Clever Strategy? Michael Brown’s Parents Present their Case—Has U.S. Violated the Convention Against Torture? By Saschane Stephenson Special to the AFRO “What were they thinking?!” Standing alongside their attorney, Michael Brown’s parents stood on the streets of Geneva, Switzerland, calling for peaceful protest from supporters in Ferguson, and declaring that they “want the world to know” what’s going on in Ferguson. “We need answers and we need action. And we have to bring it to the U.N. so they can expose it to the rest of the world, what’s going on in small town Ferguson.” As I took in the flaming red hair of Michael’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, I thought it appropriately reflected the tamed anger and indignation of a mother’s loss of her child. Better yet, the fiery color embodied the tensions and presently subdued rage of a community that has grown weary of the deaths of their unarmed children. I wondered if their presence in Geneva was a publicity stunt or rather some brilliant strategy that slipped by all of us who have been looking on. It is almost three months to the day of the death of their son. They, like the rest of the nation, are waiting for the grand jury decision on whether police officer Wilson will be indicted on criminal charges. McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. have literally moved from the streets to the world stage; and with a bright spotlight on the United States, they are calling for global Continued on A3
Presidential Medal of Freedom Honorees
Stevie Wonder, Alvin Ailey and Charles Sifford
By Lisa Snowden-McCray Special to the AFRO
A legendary singer, slain civil rights activists, a golfer who broke barriers and a world-famous choreographer are a few of the latest recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Obama announced, Nov. 11, that Stevie Wonder will be among 19 people who will receive the honor at a ceremony that will be held at the White House on Nov. 24. “I look forward to presenting these 19 bold, inspiring Americans with our nation’s highest civilian honor,” President Obama said in a statement. “From activists who fought for change to artists who explored the furthest reaches of our imagination; from scientists who kept America on the cutting edge to Continued on A3
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Stevie Wonder will be honored.