九色视频

Moore announced the allocation of $400 million to address discriminatory practices like redlining, mass incarceration and urban renewal in over 400 鈥淛ust Communities.鈥�

Making the announcement at the Pine Street church on the holiday designated to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States was no coincidence.

鈥淭his was the Black Wall Street operating in America,鈥� said the Rev. Devan Martin Thursday of Pine Street as he acknowledged the historic significance of the day, place and announcement. Martin energized the people sitting in pews, reminding them of those who have come here before.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not an accident that we鈥檝e come here on Juneteenth to not only stand on our own two feet, but to stand on the shoulders of our ancestors,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Harriet Tubmans and Fredrick Douglasses who walked literally enslaved people through these grounds.鈥�

Cambridge鈥檚 past

During a time of civil unrest in Cambridge in the 1960s, Bethel AME served as a headquarters for the Civil Rights Movement, according to Dorchester County鈥檚 tourism department. Many rallies and meetings were held at the church.

In the early 1960s, unemployment skyrocketed, exposing the Cambridge鈥檚 severe racial divide. Although segregation was ruled unconstitutional in 1954, Cambridge maintained separate schools and recreational areas in the Second Ward for 10 more years.

Protests endured for weeks in the summer of 1963 after promises of desegregation were backpedaled. Gov. J. Millard Tawes imposed martial law and deployed the Maryland National Guard to Cambridge, where it remained for 25 days. Martial law would remain in effect for a year.

In July of 鈥�67, H. Rap Brown, an emerging Black militant and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, gave a speech in the town. On the corner of Pine and Ceder streets, Brown said, 鈥淚f this town don鈥檛 come around, this town should be burned down.鈥�

On July 24, 1967, Pine Street went up in flames. The origin of fire remains unclear, though there has been a lot of speculation and finger pointing over the decades. Cambridge鈥檚 Second Ward is still recovering from the fire, the segregation and the discrimination that followed.

Moore鈥檚 announcement

A key theme among speakers at the Juneteenth event was that now is the time to rectify systemic and economic injustices affecting the community.

Martin said this will not be a pull-yourselves-up-by-your-bootstraps approach. Instead, a path forward will be provided offering hope beyond self resilience, he said.

At Bethel AME., Moore announced over 400 鈥淛ust Communities鈥� in Maryland, including Cambridge. The communities, 419 of Maryland鈥檚 1,463 census tracts, were determined by the state鈥檚 Department of Housing and Community Development to be historically underserved.

According to Moore, $400 million has been designated to address exclusionary policie in these communities. The 鈥淛ust Community鈥� designations will go into effect July 1.

鈥淭oday, Gov. Moore and Sec. (Jake) Day embodied how Maryland is setting a national standard for disrupting systemic inequities and ushering inclusive paths towards healing in and with communities from all zip codes,鈥� said Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture Vice Chair Jaelon Moaney, who is from Cambridge, in a press release Thursday.

During his visit to Cambridge, Moore also announced an executive clemency order adding nearly 7,000 cases to his historic June 2024 mass pardon of 175,000 cannabis-related convictions. The 6,938 additional pardons, which are for simple cannabis possession convictions, are 鈥渢he result of continued partnership with the Maryland Judiciary to review cases since the first order was signed last June,鈥� Moore鈥檚 office said in a press release.

鈥淚 also want to be very clear, we are not going to celebrate the benefits of (cannabis) legalization if we do not deal with the consequences of criminalization,鈥� Moore said to those gathered at Bethel AME. Thursday.

Moore said both initiatives announced Thursday aim to address the long-term impacts of discrimination like that experienced by Cambridge鈥檚 Pine Street community.

鈥淟iberation is good, but we demand freedom,鈥� Moore said.