Wes Moore focused on ‘getting it right’ in Maryland
Published:Monday | July 17, 2023 | 12:07 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Elected as the 63rd Governor of Maryland and the first African-American to hold that post in the state’s 246-year history, Wes Moore is the third black person to be elected governor in the history of the United States.
With that, he is well aware of the awesome responsibilities ahead of him.
Speaking with The Gleaner at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Saturday, he summed up the task that beckons as challenging, but equally an opportunity to prove his mettle.
“It’s a burden and it shows a measure of progress, that Maryland has never had this before. I think that my being there shows a measure of progress, but I think also my being there continues to shine a light on the fact that we still have further to go in our representative democracy,” he told The Gleaner.
Westley Watende Omari Moore was in the island to receive one of two honorary degrees to be conferred at the graduation ceremony of the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean on Sunday, where he delivered the commencement address. The other honoree was philanthropist and real estate mogul Dr Trisha Bailey.
Priorities on the administration’s agenda, he explained, include crafting an economic pathway that creates real pathways to work, wages and wealth for its constituents and giving them a real chance at creating generational wealth. Public safety ranks right there with other concerns that are being prioritised.
“Public safety is a very big deal where if people do not feel safe they won’t stay and if they don’t feel safe they won’t come and so making sure that people can really feel safe in their environment, homes and communities is another of our major priorities. The other big thing that we push on is how do we create an inclusive environment where everybody can feel the same and can actually work together. Because this political divisiveness that exists – vitriol, anger that we continue to see, not just in the United States but in politics around the world, it’s not just dangerous and detrimental but is something that’s going to eat at the fabric of our society. So those are all things that we are focusing on getting right in the state of Maryland.”
Steady hand needed
The wave of discontent across sections of the United States which, among other things, is showing up in the proliferation of firearms, violence and the easy access to guns, requires a steady hand and calm head at the helm of government, according to Moore.
“You have this political tenor that keeps ratcheting up and individuals running out there who seemingly have no control over what they say and without realising the impact of their words. We have had this era now where we have had a couple different dynamics that are taking place that have been remarkably dangerous where you have this combination of mental health challenges that people that people routinely face and everything and what happened during COVID-19 helped to exacerbate it.”
Critical to getting the necessary public buy-in for his programmes to work, Moore explained, is earning the trust of the people.
“We have to show people that government is gonna meet them where they are. That government can be a force for good, government can be a force for supporting and, frankly, the best way that we are going to address that level of separation and division is we’ve got to get to know each other again.
“We need to be a state that serves. We need to be a state that actually works together because part of the reason that I think we got that level of discourse is because we don’t know each other anymore. That’s why we have a real focus in our work in saying we’ve got to get to know each other again because I believe that if we can do that and we can serve together, that’s what’s going to save us.”
Moore, who is of Jamaican heritage, is married to Dawn Flythe Moore and they have two children – Mia and James.