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Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon, Esquire (Left) is representing the family of Anthony Anderson - a Baltimore black man killed while in police custody. A rally and protest have taken place since. And the family is watching.

By Doni Glover, www.bmorenews.com

(BALTIMORE - October 29, 2012) - Aaahh! It was a busy weekend, beginning with an exciting football game weekend. Dunbar opened the brand new Sugar Cain Field during its Homecoming in classic Eastside style, complete with a parade and ribbon-cutting ceremony. My son’s team, Poly, also played. Although Poly lost, it was an exciting game indeed – all the way down to the wire. Poly is in a rebuilding year; next year has a lot of promise. Nonetheless, I am always proud of my seed, Asaan Glover.

A graduate of Dunbar and also an alum of Poly, too, I had a chance to enjoy some good, ol’ Bal’imore fun – seeing some great people along the way. Both Poly and Dunbar’s alumni, I am blessed to know, are doing wonderful things around the world – not just in Baltimore. Both citywide schools attract the best and the brightest.

At both schools, I met many people on their way up. Today, there is a long list of alums from both schools who really make Baltimore proud. Some are at the police department, in City and State government, running businesses, and, most of all, making a difference.

Names like Eric Green, Efrem Edwards, and Muggsy Bogues come to mind. Names like Marty Glaze, Teddy Coates, and Larry Crew are representative of the caliber of the graduates out of Dunbar and Poly. I love both schools enormously and benefitted in the sense that I have been exposed to schools with a similar legacy of accomplishment. There is  a certain expectation at both Dunbar and at Poly that you, the student, are expected to be the best.

Forget everything else. If you know nothing else, know that the tradition is one of going as high as possible in whatever field of endeavor you should choose. If you are going to be a dancer, then be the best damn dancer you can be. If you are a doctor, save lives like no doctor has ever done. If you are going to be a leader, then be the kind of leader people will remember in a good way for generations to come … like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Be a leader who demonstrates integrity and moral courage as did Malcolm X. Nurture, indeed, the capacity within you to actually change the world – and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t. ‘Impossible is nothing!’

So, that’s some of how the weekend went. Of course, there were other things going on, too. For instance, I was humbled to receive recognition from the SCLC Baltimore under Cortly CD Witherspoon at the Baltimore Activist Awards Dinner at Govans Presbyterian Church. It was an honor and a privilege. I sat with the Warrior Lawyer, J. Wyndal Gordon. Unbeknownst to me, he was with the family of Anthony Anderson, including his grandmother and son.

Talking about speechless ...! I quickly had to gather my wits, read the spirits, and – be myself. All I know is we had a really nice time. I had so much fun with them, despite meeting under such a cloud.

Anthony Anderson was horribly killed, according to witnesses, by the hands of a Baltimore City Police Officer.   

Meeting the Anderson family – I knew that a healing for them was my first wish. And I can say, I was watching first-hand what it is like trying to cope when such a tragedy happens. I simultaneously multiplied that times the thousands of black men murdered on Baltimore streets like they were animals. I saw the rivers of blood flowing straight down Park Heights, down the Avenue – down Greene Street into Pratt and right into the Harbor.  

Lord knows, the violence has to end. I’d much rather see aggression on the football field. And I’d much rather see families – for the first time – in a happy light.

‘Til next time, be the light!

Tags: and the Baltimore Activist Awards 2012, anthony anderson, Glover Report: Dunbar Homecoming, grandmother, poly football, son