by Steuart Pittman
Dear Elijah,
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for serving as an example. Thank you for being fearless. Thank you for knowing, and showing, that standing against injustice that is directed to any group is how you lift up all groups.
When you spoke six months ago at our local Parren Mitchell dinner, you made me cry. You made me understand that the politics of our time go beyond the disagreements between parties. I saw a man in physical pain who knew that his time on this earth was coming to an end, choosing to connect with whoever would listen, choosing to tell a story about humanity and the choices we face while we’re here.
I know you can’t answer in words, Elijah, but I have questions.
What can we do about gun violence? What do I say to the politicians and activists who fear that our efforts to save lives are a threat to their freedom?
What about housing? How do we convince builders, politicians, and even the public that something is wrong when people who make under $50,000 per year can’t afford either rent or homeownership in our county?
How do we convince taxpayers that somebody must invest in the future? That transportation, environmental protection, and the education of children - ALL children - is our obligation as human beings?
And how do we give politicians the guts that their predecessors had during our country’s golden years, the years when we had very little national debt, major investments in infrastructure, and shrinking income inequality? How do we convince them that it’s ok to tax the highest income earners the way they were taxed before the great experiment in trickle down economics and corporate welfare.
Oh, and here’s one that you have a lot of experience with, Elijah, hate bias incidents. You survived it as an eleven-year old kid when white folks threw rocks at you for trying to integrate a pool, and again when the President of the United States attacked you and the communities you represent. I suspect that there were other times as well.
Anne Arundel County just learned that we have more hate bias incident reports than any other county in the state, and that our numbers are growing. It’s bad, Elijah. It’s in our schools, in our workplaces, and in our neighborhoods. It’s so bad that when I talk about the problem on social media angry people say that I’m being divisive.
We need you to come to Anne Arundel County and speak to us. We need you to tell us what it feels like to be attacked for the color of your skin and the neighborhood you grew up in. We need you to appeal to what’s best in us, like you always have. But you can’t.
So it’s on us now. We need to grow us some more Elijah Cummings. And we need to be more like Elijah Cummings.
That is what we must do. And we will, Honorable Elijah Cummings, so that you dear sir can Rest In Peace.
Note to readers. Elijah can’t answer these questions, but you can. Please consider what Congressman Cummings stood for and send me some answers at countyexecutive@aacounty.org. Thanks for your help.