Maryland’s 7th congressional district was born out of civil rights activism and Black progressivism.

Parren J. Mitchell of the legendary Baltimore family won the seat in 1970, beating nine-term incumbent Sam Friedel by a mere 38 votes in the Democratic primary, following an unsuccessful attempt in 1968. This prompted Friedel to threaten a congressional investigation on “voting irregularities” – simply because he did not believe that Black folks were smart enough to organize a campaign to defeat him, even though half of the electorate was Black.

Mitchell was one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, who boycotted President Nixon’s State of the Union address because Nixon refused to meet with them. He fought for affirmative action legislation and included minority contractors in 10% of a $4 billion public works project. Kweisi Mfume, who replaced Mitchell after he retired from Congress in 1986, fought for federal funding for cities following President Reagan’s budget cuts. He later became the chairman of the CBC and left Congress to become the president of the NAACP.

Elijah Cummings stood up for civil rights from an early age. At 11, he was attacked by a white mob as he integrated a swimming pool in South Baltimore and over 1,000 white folks protested against him, with signs saying, “Keep Our Pool Germ Free” and “White People Have Rights Too.” He bore lifelong scars from objects thrown at him during this ordeal.

Cummings’ fighting spirit endured as he supported postal workers, gay Americans, and many others throughout his political career in Annapolis and Washington. This legacy of civil rights activism and tenacious defense of Baltimore and marginalized Americans must be honored in the next representative from the 7th District.

State Sen. Jill P. Carter (D) has been a fighter on civil rights, like Elijah, since she was a child. And she is maintaining a family legacy.

She is the daughter of Walter P. Carter, the chairman of Baltimore’s Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which fought housing discrimination, “whites only” public accommodations, and poor living conditions for Black folks in Baltimore and Maryland through sit-ins, boycotts, demonstrations, freedom rides, and pressuring city leadership relentlessly.

Walter Carter was nominated by Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro III to head the Community Action Agency but was strongly opposed by City Council President William Donald Schaefer for being “too radical” and “too militant” and lost the Council vote 8-10, leading Parren Mitchell and two others to resign from positions on the Urban Coalition.

Carter tragically died of a heart attack while leading a meeting in Union Baptist Church on July 31, 1971, the day after he won a court battle against real estate tycoon Morris Goldseker. He stands alongside other Maryland figures of civil rights activism such as Gloria Richardson, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Arthur King.

Jill Carter grew up in Ashburton, a Black suburb within the city that she recalls as idyllic. This did not deter her from being actively involved in the struggle for human rights. She graduated from Western High School and there is now a mural on the campus in her honor.

She went to Loyola and got a Bachelor’s in English, then a JD from the University of Baltimore School of Law. Following this, she worked as a reporter with the Afro-American newspaper. She has represented several thousand individuals as a lawyer and hundreds as a public defender across the state.

In 2002, Carter was elected to the House of Delegates with a grass-roots campaign in Northwest Baltimore. She won with 8,958 votes, the highest vote-getter in that district. For two terms, she was the only female Black lawyer serving in the House. Through her work on the Judiciary Committee, she frequently clashed with House Speaker Michael Busch and Judiciary Chairman Joe Vallario.