By Whitney Abercrombie Prescott
Eugene Bullard was the first Black American military pilot, a man who fought in two world wars, spied on Nazis, was wounded twice and was honored as a Knight by France. Yet, America came home, looked him in his face and saw “invisible.”
His story breaks the heart because it isn’t just his.
It is the American story and painfully, it is also the Maryland story.
Maryland has always been home to unrecognized greatness.
We had Harriet Tubman, whose brilliance and bravery liberated hundreds, yet she died in poverty, never receiving the dignity this nation owed her.
We had Verda Freeman Welcome, the first Black woman elected to any state senate in the United States. She was a pioneer who fought segregation long before “civil rights” was fashionable. However, her name still doesn’t appear in every history book.
We had Black soldiers who left the Eastern Shore, Baltimore and Prince George’s County to fight for freedoms abroad they could not enjoy at home. Many returned to Maryland only to face housing discrimination, job exclusion and silence.
Wayne K. Curry, the first Black County Executive of Prince George’s County. A man who stepped into leadership not just with courage, but with unapologetic conviction. Curry stood up for disenfranchised families, pushed back against systems that told Black communities what they couldn’t be, and dared to demand investment, dignity, and possibility for Prince George’s County.
His leadership redefined what was possible for our county and we have not had another leader quite like him since, one willing to challenge power so boldly on behalf of the people.
Bullard’s story lives in all of them and in us.
It teaches us that America has a long habit of celebrating Black excellence only after the fact.
Today, in 2025, Maryland still wrestles with what it means to truly see its people.
Look at Wicomico County, where Black residents had to take their own county to court just to have their votes count equally.
Look at Federalsburg, where after 200 years, the city elected Black officials for the very first time.
Look at the ongoing inequities in schools, hospitals and housing across Prince George’s County, Baltimore City, Charles County and our Eastern Shore.
Just like Bullard, too many Maryland families still have to “prove” their worth to systems that should have affirmed them from the start.
Yet, there is hope. Maryland also has leaders who refuse to let our people remain unseen.
Racism is the Achilles Heel of the US and therefore, Maryland. Until legislative and policy bodies reflect parity in women and minority representation, you will see no real change. And this extends to parity representation in enterprise board of directors.