present might know, but dare not say. Unlike some we’ve been forced to follow, Elijah was not a punk and always backed those who were his supporters as long as they stayed on the right side of principle and propriety.
My family and I, along with many others, knew him as a community-based attorney, partner of Eddie Smith, and Howard University graduate going back to the ’70s.
Many knew him as that bright young, attractive suited-up esquire living on Madison Avenue; who long-time leader and state representative, Lena K. Lee, pulled up one day and entreated to him that she had been watching him and was convinced that he’d be a great state representative on behalf of her influential neighborhood and community. Baltimore and the Old Line State of Maryland is a literal breeding ground of stalwart political leaders, jurists, and statesmen. No wonder she holds dear, sons and daughters the likes of Parren and Clarence Mitchell, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Thomas D’Aleasandro, Jr. & Sr., Ben Cardin, and our beloved Elijah.
While representing the major retail stores in Maryland, in their quest to overturn the antiquated Blue Laws as a Lobbyist and aid to Jean Fugett, Jr. in the late ’80s, Elijah was one of the very first state delegates to meet with us. Not afraid to paddle upstream in the face of his many colleagues who were routinely ignoring our requests to simply be heard and state the case for our clients. He was always known in his circles and particularly among his political colleagues as a man of his word, who you could count on, once he’d cast his lot as an ally.
The 7th Congressional District in Maryland is a historic bally wick of this great nation and legislatively a treasure trove, furnace, and incubator of measures and trends that have shaped our nation over the past 3 generations. The 7th is indeed the Titular seat of the inimitable Parren James Mitchell, Maryland’s 1st Black Congressperson and 1st Chair and