By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“My daddy said, ‘Look, you’re never going to be able to be big enough to beat everybody, but you can outthink anybody.’ He said, ‘Don’t get mad. Get smart. If you lose your temper in a fight, you lose the fight. Your mind is the most valuable weapon you have, and if you get emotional, you cut your mind off.’ And so that’s the way I was raised.” - Andrew Young, former U.N. ambassador, former Atlanta mayor, civil rights icon, during a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual conference.
Trying to understand what has happened to civil rights and voting rights, trying to figure out what’s next on data centers, trying to predict the outcome of the vote on Question 3. It was a trying week. Welcome to the weekend.
Andrew Young, civil rights icon, former U.N. ambassador, former Atlanta mayor, joined former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference to discuss the current state of civil and voting rights legislation that Young helped pass. Now 94, Young summed the situation up by saying, “I don’t know where we are now.” William J. Ford has the story.
If there was any doubt that opposition to data centers is widespread, this week’s 417-3 House vote on a bill to rein them in should dispel that notion. But some critics said the bill went too far, some said it didn’t go far enough, and any bill will have to get past President Donald Trump, a full-throated supporter of the centers despite their unpopularity with voters, as David Lightman reports.
The road to redistricting has been a rocky one, but Gov. Wes Moore told reporters this week he is confident that voters will approve Question 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would lift many of the current requirements on how congressional districts are drawn. Critics aren’t so sure, as Capital News Service’s Charlotte Ormond reports.
One thing we’ve come to be sure about, is the support of our readers. People like Mary H. and Christine S., both of Bowie, Heather R. of Gaithersburg, Eric and Martha G. of Silver Spring and Janet W. from Garrett Park, whose contributions help us keep the lights on. If you would like to join them, take a minute to visit our donate page.
In the meantime, peruse the stories below, including two out-of-this-world visitors to the CBC conference, and headlines from the week as you east into your weekend. Enjoy!
From left, Andrew Young, Eric Holder and Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) during a panel discussion Friday at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 55th annual legislation conference in Washington, D.C. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
By William J. Ford
When Andrew Young rose from his motorized chair and took his seat on stage Friday, he received rousing applause from the audience at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., welcomed as a legend.
Working alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Young played a key role with other civil rights leaders in securing support for Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights of Act of 1965. Now 94, Young is among the few surviving members of King’s inner circle.
But the landmark legislation that Young helped draft has been upended by legal challenges, with the U.S. Supreme Court recently dealing the Voting Rights Act a blow. In April, the nation’s highest court ruled in Callais v. Louisiana that the state’s use of race-based redistricting amounted to an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander.” Young shared a stage Friday with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) to talk about civil rights Friday at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 55th annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C.
Alabamans hold up signs that read “No Data Center” at a county commission meeting on Aug. 24, 2026, in Hayneville, Alabama, in the Lowndes County Courthouse. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
By David Lightman
The rare 2026 issue that draws huge support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress is the same one that’s mobilized many Americans: restrictions on giant data centers.
The House has overwhelmingly passed legislation forcing state regulators to consider requirements that data centers absorb the cost of the electricity they use. But there’s more to be done, say data center critics, and they’re finding there is no easy or even obvious answer about what to do next. Leave it to state and local governments to decide whether and how the centers should function? Should their size be restricted? Should they be banned altogether?
The House voted Wednesday 417-3 on a bill that requires states to consider having data centers using large amounts of electricity pay the full additional cost of that generation, as well as transmission and distribution upgrades that are needed. But there’s no clear next chapter, as skepticism is coming from critics at the White House and among progressives. The biggest obstacle appears to be President Donald Trump, a full-throated supporter of data centers.
Gov. Wes Moore speaks to reporters at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's legislative conference Thursday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Cat Murphy/Capital News Service)
By Charlotte Ormond
Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Thursday he believes Marylanders will “overwhelmingly" support an amendment to change the way congressional districts are drawn when they go to the polls in November.
The proposal, which will appear on ballots as Question 3, would amend the Maryland Constitution on congressional redistricting. It would remove certain state-level geographic restrictions when lawmakers redraw congressional district boundaries. It would also authorize the General Assembly to grant original jurisdiction to the Maryland Supreme Court to review the congressional redistricting plan. It comes amid a national midcycle redistricting effort, as Republican- and Democratic-led states jockey to redraw their congressional maps for partisan advantage ahead of the midterm elections.
“What Question 3 is saying is, ‘Do you want the power?’” Moore said during a stop at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference in Washington. “Until Question 3, we had a chance to have Donald Trump determine what our democracy looks like.”
Critics argue that Democrats are aiming to eliminate the only Republican-controlled district in Maryland with the amendment, hastily approved in a special legislative session last month, by allowing free rein to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts.
IN OTHER NEWS
Third-country deportations paused: A federal appeals court Friday struck down the Trump administration’s policy to quickly send noncitizens to countries they are not from, saying immigrants must have an opportunity to challenge such third-country removals.
Appointee churn: Political appointees in Trump’s second term are leaving in record numbers, and often after short tenures. More than 900 appointees who did not require Senate confirmation left within the first 18 months of the administration, a report says.
Not-so-hidden figures: NASA has had fewer than 20 Black astronauts, but two of them were at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference Friday, touting space exploration and encouraging Black youth to think about careers in space.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Storming over stormwater: Just months after federal officials joined Chesapeake Bay states to renew their pledge to restore the bay, President Donald Trump on Wednesday rescinded an Obama-era executive order that called for federal leadership in the effort.
Pressing for Black voter turnout: Congressional lawmakers implored Black citizens to vote this fall, saying during a town hall at the Congressional Black Caucus’s annual legislative conference Thursday that the fate of "Black America" hangs in the balance.
Measles alert for Ocean City: Maryland health officials are warning that people who visited several locations in Ocean City earlier this month may have been exposed to measles, after an out-of-state resident infected with the virus visited while still contagious.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
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