Baltimore remembers Cummings with billboards, music
Baltimore residents are paying tribute to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D) following news of the longtime Maryland congressman’s death Thursday at the age of 68.
Cummings, who served in Congress for 23 years, was a native of Baltimore and his congressional district included roughly half of the city.
“Rest easy, Congressman,” Baltimore Mayor Bernard Young (D) said in a statement.
“We love you and will draw strength by remembering your selfless acts of service and dedication to pursuing equality and human rights for all people,” Young added.
— Mayor Bernard C. Jack Young (@mayorbcyoung) October 17, 2019
Among the tributes to Cummings in Baltimore are seven digital billboards across the city that are showing a tribute to the late congressman and his public service, a source told The Hill.
{mosads}A number of Baltimore residents shared personal stories and memories of the congressman with The Baltimore Sun on Thursday.
One barber in West Baltimore called Cummings a “father figure” and “civil rights icon” for the community, while several recalled how the congressman sought to calm tensions in the city following the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died in police custody.
“He always seemed to be sincere, doing right by the people,” one man, Gilbert Ricks, told the newspaper. “He would motivate us to keep doing what we were doing, what was right.”
Others who sought to pay tribute to the longtime congressman included a quartet of musicians who gathered outside Cummings’s district office to play in his honor.
A group of musicians are now playing outside @RepCummings 7th district office in honor of his service. #wbal pic.twitter.com/VPXqVuXiCF
— Theo Hayes WBAL (@TheoHayesWBAL) October 17, 2019
Cummings, who had recently become a key player in House Democrats’ impeachment probe into Trump, died early Thursday morning in hospice care due to longstanding health issues, his office said.
The congressman had relied on a walker and motorized scooter in the past year to move around while also keeping a busy schedule on Capitol Hill, leading committee hearings before television cameras and offering interviews to reporters.
Cummings chaired the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, which has conducted sprawling investigations into Trump and his administration.
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