Fifty-seven years ago--August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. transfixed those gathered near the reflecting pool on the national Mall ...for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “I have a dream,” he said, and described it, including “one day right there in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!”

That was a year and a week after an 11-year-old Black boy and about 30 of his friends brought their dream to a swimming pool in South Baltimore. The late Congressman Elijah Cummings told a Stoop Story about it in 2010.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Nearly a week after Baltimore’s housing commissioner was fired, the public doesn’t know why. We ask Tisha Guthrie, a tenants’ rights advocate, why it’s important, and Councilman John Bullock, chair of the city council’s housing committee, what’s next.

A wave of evictions is expected when courts resume hearing landlord claims next week. We ask Tisha Edwards, interim director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, whether the $31 million dollars the city has earmarked for tenants is enough.

For help with eviction prevention, paying your water or energy bills, and more, you can visit bmorechildren.com or call the Baltimore City Community Action Partnership hotline at 410-545-0900.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Just weeks after the Declaration of Independence had been signed, George Washington’s rag-tag Continental Army confronted an immense British military force. Washington needed to retreat from Brooklyn into Manhattan--but how to buy time to do it? Four hundred young fighters from Maryland engaged the redcoats to give cover to the escaping Americans. Author Chris Formant blends historic facts with inference about emotions and motivations. His novel is: "Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and the Battle of Brooklyn."

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

One hundred years ago, women got the vote in the U.S. Constitution. That didn’t mean all women actually got to vote. In her new book, historian Martha Jones describes how African-American women strategized, organized, preached and marched--sometimes alongside white suffragists and sometimes alone. They tackled racism at the same time they fought sexism. Jones calls her new book Vanguard, because, “Black women are the organizers, they are the foot soldiers, they are the architects, they are the spokespeople for the necessity of African American voting rights."

Jones traces how Black women built political skills in churches and women’s clubs … and kept struggling for laws that would keep the promise of the Nineteen Amendment.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

From the fear of getting sick to the sadness of canceled plans, children are experiencing a wide range of emotions as the pandemic persists. That stress takes a toll on their mental health.

Psychologist Sharon Hoover co-directs the University of Maryland medical school’s National Center for School Mental Health. She says more resources are needed.

We hear the voices of children coping with the pandemic.

And social worker Ashley Woods describes how she is staying connected to the high school students she serves in Baltimore.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Just as tens of millions of Americans are making plans to vote by mail--came sudden reports of delayed deliveries, vanished equipment, slashed overtime. Much of the country is up in arms about the U.S. Postal Service. The Washington Post reporter Erin Cox fills in details of its slow decline and needed reforms. She tells why the recent appointment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and his sweeping changes, have created a perfect storm. Plus, we look at how, when and where Marylanders can cast their ballots.

For information about voting by mail in Maryland, visit this link. For Erin Cox's reporting, visit this link.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

It’s August … the dog days of summer. Thinking of getting away? Here’s an audio postcard from On the Record producer Melissa Gerr, about her experiences on a recent journey through the air. If you missed your Stoop story today -- or any day -- you can find all the tales right at your fingertips when you visit Stoopstorytelling.com, or the Stoop podcast. Also, there’s a virtual Stoop coming up next month, called: “Of Substance: Real, Personal Stories About Our Complicated and Contradictory Relationships with Drugs and Alcohol.” You can watch it on Facebook Live on Tuesday, September 22, at 7:00 pm.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

A virtual film festival next week will examine housing discrimination through the lens of film.

Raemond Parrott, of Baltimore’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights, previews the motion pictures and discussions; and tells about the pandemic-related complaints his office is investigating.

Then, filmmaker Emily Stubb describes “deserted,” a documentary that follows West Baltimore activist Anthony Francis. Francis says growing up in a food desert shapes how children think about connecting to food.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

As water bottles break down and fleece jackets shed fibers in the washing machine, small pieces of plastic enter the ecosystem. What threat does this pollutant pose to the environment? Bay Journal reporter Whitney Pipkin is the author of a recent report on microplastics.

How is this debris impacting marine life? What steps can we take to reduce plastic pollution? Click here for more information about the documentary "The Story of Plastic". This interview originally aired June 4, 2020.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Humans and cars have always had to share the road. But that territory is in demand as more people spread to the outdoors in order to physically distance during the pandemic. Neighborhood organizer Odette Ramos tells us about Slow Streets, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation's effort to calm traffic and make residential streets safer. And Del. Robbyn Lewis discusses building on the momentum of Slow Streets ... with her newly formed coalition Livable Streets. The group promotes ‘people first’ street design in African American and Latino neighborhoods in Baltimore.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472