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Graves Near Youth Prison Spotlight Maryland’s Legacy of Injustice

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — A disturbing discovery in Maryland has reignited calls for urgent reform to the state’s youth justice system, one that critics say still reflects the racism and cruelty of its 19th-century past.

Published

10 months ago

July 21, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

A disturbing discovery in Maryland has reignited calls for urgent reform to the state’s youth justice system, one that critics say still reflects the racism and cruelty of its 19th-century past.

In a wooded area near the Cheltenham Youth Detention Center in Prince George’s County, at least 100 unmarked graves of Black children—some dating back to the 1800s—have been uncovered near the former House of Reformation and Instruction for Colored Children. Originally established in 1870 to detain Black boys as young as five, the facility operated under brutal conditions that included forced labor and systemic neglect. The site, long ignored by state officials, serves as a chilling reminder of the state’s history of warehousing Black youth. But according to The Sentencing Project, that past is tragically still present.

“Maryland’s shameful legacy of racism, neglect, and abuse in its treatment of young lives continues to this day,” said Olivia Naugle, Youth Justice Campaign Strategist at The Sentencing Project. “More than 150 years later, though desegregated by the courts and operating under a new name, it still overwhelmingly detains youth of color, who are often charged as if they were adults.” Maryland now ranks fourth in the country for incarcerating people for crimes committed as children. Per capita, it charges more youth as adults than almost any other state, second only to Alabama. Black children are seven times more likely to be charged as adults than their white peers.

Naugle and other advocates point to Maryland’s expansive list of 33 offenses that require automatic adult charges for youth, one of the most extreme in the nation. While over half of U.S. states have moved to restrict or eliminate such automatic charging mechanisms, Maryland remains an outlier. Senator William C. Smith Jr., who chairs the state Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee, has vowed to reintroduce legislation narrowing the list of crimes that send children directly to adult court. His proposed reform would reserve adult charges only for the most severe offenses, such as murder and rape. “This is a critical step toward addressing the racial disparities that plague Maryland’s youth justice system,” Naugle added. “We applaud Senator Smith for tackling this deeply flawed system of youth injustice.”

The Sentencing Project’s research paints a damning picture nationwide, but particularly in states like Maryland. Although the number of children tried as adults in the U.S. has dropped from 250,000 annually at the turn of the century to 53,000 by 2019, the overwhelming majority of those still being transferred are youth of color. Black youth—who make up less than 15% of the national youth population—comprise 63% of those detained pending criminal court hearings. The practice of treating children as adults in the legal system surged in the 1990s, fueled by racist myths about so-called “super-predator” youth. The policies disproportionately targeted Black and Brown children and have been thoroughly debunked by crime data and behavioral science. Violent juvenile crime has declined, and neurological research shows that young people are less capable of impulse control and more amenable to rehabilitation than adults.

Still, children sent to adult prisons are at a significantly higher risk of suicide, sexual assault, and long-term trauma. The Sentencing Project reports that housing children in adult jails increases recidivism and severely hinders their ability to reintegrate into society. Youth convicted in adult court often lose access to record expungement, educational and vocational programs, and community-based rehabilitation services. In 2019 alone, 76 minors were held in adult jails in Maryland. Another 16 were housed in adult prisons. Most of those detained were youth of color. Advocates say the rediscovery of the graves near Cheltenham offers a sobering parallel between past and present. The boys buried there were labeled “inmates” on death certificates dating as far back as 1898. They died behind bars for offenses ranging from petty theft to simply being labeled “incorrigible.” Their names and lives were long forgotten—until now.

“They can’t be made whole,” said Rosemary Clark, a genealogist who uncovered over 100 death certificates tied to the reform school. “But they at least deserve some respect in death that they didn’t get in life.” Senator Smith and former Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi have applied for funding to preserve and memorialize the site. However, advocates insist that memorials alone are insufficient. “We have to make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past,” Schiraldi told the Washington Post. “They were segregating kids by race and treating the kids of color more poorly and burying them in a potter’s field. But at least they were taking them out of the adult prisons of the day.”

For Naugle and The Sentencing Project, Maryland’s modern policies show that not enough has changed. “It is long overdue that Maryland ends this harmful, ineffective policy,” Naugle said. “If we want to break the cycle, we must stop pretending children are adults. We must finally treat them like children, especially children of color who’ve borne the brunt of this system for over a century.”

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Published

1 week ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

Published

1 week ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

Published

1 week ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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