Press Release: Moore’s Just Communities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

June 25, 2025 

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Dwaine Thomas 

media@nickforbaltimorecounty.com 

[Nick Stewart is available for interviews with media (print, radio, and television) on this topic.]  

“Damn Right, It’s Justice”:  

Nick Stewart on Just Communities—Data-Driven, Justice-Led 

Nick Stewart’s Just Communities Statement:  

Damn Right, It’s Justice 

Because progress isn’t guesswork. It’s data-driven. It’s justice-led.  

#ICYMI, Governor Moore announced a first-in-the-nation program called “Just Communities” that will invest $400M in neighborhoods that’ve borne the brunt of past discriminatory policies. Think redlining, urban highways, urban renewal (which James Baldwin rightly called “Negro removal”),  and pollution exposure. 

The state identified 49 (!) census tracts in Baltimore County alone to receive this funding, based  on thoughtful factors—like history of redlining, property vacancies, imprisonment rates, asthma  rates, and so on. 

Unbelievably, some in our County have said this is socialism and reverse discrimination—and that it’s depriving White neighborhoods on the East Side. This shows the magnitude of the challenge we still face. 

First, investment is based on objective data reflecting the eƯects of racism, not on the color of the people living in those neighborhoods. 

Second, the vast majority of the neighborhoods receiving funding in our County are on the  East Side!

Page 1 of 2 

Third, the world isn’t a zero-sum game. Black communities don’t succeed at the expense of  White communities. This kind of division has to stop. We’re talking about giving disinvested communities the tools they need to thrive (and pay more taxes).  

Finally, we’re One County—and it’s our responsibility to make sure everyone can prosper and aƯord the basics in life. That’s not just good government—it reflects our shared belief in the God-given dignity of every person.  

So damn right some communities need more support than others—and damn right that’s tied to systemic racism. That’s our past. And we’ve got to face it if we’re going to build a more just future.  

###  

Learn more: www.nickforbaltimorecounty.com 

Follow Nick on social media: www.nickforbaltimorecounty.com/socials  

By Authority: Citizens for Nick Stewart, Jaeah Fortune, Treasurer