The news of Congressman Elijah Cummings’ death this morning was so very sad for so many people across Baltimore, our state and the country. As a Congressional leader, Cummings was on the forefront on countless important policy and political issues and was a steady, strong and always morally centered presence on the national stage and in our city.
As an African American who was born and raised in Baltimore in the 1950s and 60s, and the son of sharecroppers, he experienced some of the most virulent and disgraceful racist treatment this city and country had to offer. He turned those experiences into a lifetime of fighting for justice and civility, rising above the meanness and smallness of those who sought to hold him down, ascending to the highest levels of Congress. His inspirational life story, oratory and actions set an example that very few will ever be able to replicate, and he died way too young, at the age of 68.
I want to take a minute this morning to offer a personal and a Y perspective on Elijah Cummings. He lived just around the corner from the Druid Hill Y, in a neighborhood of the city that often experienced a significant level of crime. He didn’t choose to live apart from this city’s greatest challenges or most underserved people, because that’s not who Elijah Cummings was. He cared deeply about the Druid Hill Y, its history and its role in serving the city as it is today. When I heard the news of his passing this morning, I immediately thought back to a rare opportunity I had about a decade ago to speak with him. He invited me to meet with him at his Congressional office in D.C. to discuss the Y’s work. Given how busy he and everyone who serves in Congress was, I expected the meeting to last about five to ten minutes. Instead, he and I spoke for almost an hour about Baltimore, about its young people and their challenges, and about how the Y (and, specifically, the Druid Hill Y) could be an even stronger beacon for those young people and their families in West Baltimore who he cared so deeply about.
This was no perfunctory “political” conversation. He poured his heart out about what was happening in the city he loved, and encouraged me and the Y to think big and expansively about what more we could do. He didn’t really know me “from Adam,” but he spoke to me like a longtime friend and confidant would speak to me. He trusted people, and so on that morning he trusted me and the Y because he always wanted something better for his district, his city and those who had not fully or fairly shared in the American dream. That conversation remains a treasure to me, and it continues to light my personal flame to work hard on behalf of Congressman Cummings and those for whom he fought. In many ways, our continuing and expanding work at the Druid Hill Y and throughout Baltimore City is fueled by his passion and by his unending reservoir of determination to seek justice, equality and a better future for those whose past and present has been an unsparing challenge.
On this day, I and all of us at the Y thanks Congressman Elijah Cummings. We will never forget your words, your deeds or your encouragement to do more. God’s speed.
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland