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About Doni Glover
Doni Glover is a businessman and a community activist, a poet and a pianist, a radio voice and an editor. He is, in fact, a virtual "Renaissance man" cut from durable fabric and born to incredibly lead.
 The son of a funeral director and a nurse, the young Glover grew up in Baltimore City and attended public schools. Having attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute for two years, he'd ultimately graduate from Paul Laurence Dunbar Community High School.
Upon entering Morehouse College in the fall of '83, Glover would spend a total of three semesters at the institution made famous by the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Edwin Moses.
Life would have its way, and consequently Glover's mother - Lillie Juanita Glover - passed.
Glover left college and became a waiter. From Atlanta to Baltimore, Glover learned the trade of serving others. He also learned many important lessons that have propelled him into the position he is in today.
He ultimately graduated from Coppin State College some thirteen years later as a Ronald E. McNair scholar and is set to graduate in May 2001 from Morgan State University with a Master's in International Studies. His graduate thesis covers the topic of entrepreneurship in the wealthy Southern African nation of Botswana. He is ultimately in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Policy Sciences.
Professionally, Glover is the Managing Editor of Sandtown-Winchester's community (West Baltimore including historic Pennsylvania Avenue or "the Avenue") newspaper, the Village ViewPoint. He is also an Associate Editor for the online magazine, agoodblackman.com. His regular column (The Glover Report) is featured in several publications, including: MPROVE magazine (published by fellow journalist and current President of Baltimore's Black Professional Men, Inc. - www.bpminc.org - Omar Muhammad) and The Urban Star (published by fellow journalist Clinton Green - theurbanstar@yahoo.com).
Doni Glover has even emerged on the radio circuit in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. As a co-host, host and producer, he is involved in the operation of three regular radio shows; one is on WEAA 88.9 FM (Morgan State) and the other two are on Radio One's (Cathy Hughes) WOLB 1010 AM.
The show on WEAA, called Dialogue with the African American Male, is produced in conjunction with Omar Muhammad. The two shows on WOLB are Empower Hour and the Village ViewPoint. Empower Hour is hosted by Empower Baltimore's Michael Preston; the Village ViewPoint is hosted by Glover, Famebridge Payne (from Self Motivated Community People's Empowerment Zone Village Center) and Shondrea Howard (Sandtown-Winchester's Community Building in Partnership, Inc.) Full-time, Glover is employed by Baltimore's Empowerment Zone headquarters - Empower Baltimore Management Corporation - as a marketing and media specialist.
 Politically, Glover ran for State Central Committee in Maryland's 44th State Legislative district under the tutelage of former State Senator Larry Young. Glover also managed the campaign for Baltimore City 4th Councilmanic candidate Darius George Hall in 1999.
Since then, Glover has continued to be a part of the local and community leadership in Baltimore City. A member of Black Professional Men, Inc., Glover is also a board member of the Pennsylvania Avenue Committee (PAC) with Chairman George Augusta Gilliam. The PAC is responsible for the Annual Cadillac Parade and Royal Theater Music Festival as well as other initiatives designed to celebrate Pennsylvania Avenue (and The Avenue Market - formerly Lafayette Market at the intersection of Pennsylvania & Laurens). Pennsylvania Avenue, of course, is the main thoroughfare made famous by American music icons such as Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, and Chick Webb.
Last but not least, Glover is complete as a family man: happily married and fathering three. One of his favorite authors is Frederick Douglass. Glover often makes mention to two quotes with respect to the historical icon who helped abolish slavery in the USA. One quote is by Douglass:
"When we find a man who has ascended heights
beyond ourselves,
who has a broader range of vision than we,
who has a sky with more stars in it than we have in ours -
we may know that he has worked
harder, better, more wisely than we.
He was awake while we slept,
he was busy while we were idle,
he was wisely improving his talents
while we were wasting ours."
The other quote was actually written by Wendell Phillips and is found in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Phillips, in a letter to Dougass, wrote that for too long the story of hunt ("The Man and the Lion") has been told by the man. It is time that the story of the hunt be told from the perspective of the hunted.
In other words, Glover's commitment to the positive portrayal of community people is unparalleled. Through newspaper, radio, television, video, internet, telephone, fax machine, poetry, piano - whatever the medium - Doni Glover is a man who has used his many talents to help inspire people and gain them access to opportunities. This is much like the words of his father - Doctor Donald Edward Glover: "You've got to learn to give, son. You see, with a closed hand - nothing gets in and nothing gets out. With an open hand, there are endless possibilities."
Further, Glover is intent on celebrating the good in his community.
Glover writes, "Many people have told the story of my community; it is now time for the indigenous version."
One of Glover's greatest passions is instructing youth. During the summer of 2000, he was assigned five local youth from around Baltimore's federally funded Empowerment Zone. His mission was to expose them to media. In four weeks, these youth were writing for the "Village ViewPoint," assisting in the production of the two WOLB 1010 radio shows, featured on www.agoodblackman.com website, and videotaping interviews with renowned Baltimore Sun journalist Gregory Kane.
These youth met Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, Baltimore Housing Commissioner Patricia Payne, Deputy Housing Commissioner Otis Rolley, State Delegate Pete Rawlings (Chairman of the MD House Appropriations Committee), State Delegate Verna Jones, Channel 2's Terry Owens, photographer extraordinaire J. D. Howard (who photographed South Africa's first free election), then-Chief of Staff for Baltimore City Council President Sheila Dixon - Anthony McCarthy (who is also the youngest editor ever of the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper), and a slew of others. They were even a part of a live press conference at Baltimore's City Hall with Madame President Sheila Dixon and were a part of the Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street application and awards.
On Lauryn Hill's debut album, she wrote: "In my travels all over the world, I have come to realize that what differentiates one child from another is not ability but access: access to education, access to opportunity, access to love." This quote epitomizes Doni Glover. Known as "Mr. Resources" throughout Baltimore, Glover makes it his business to get people, particularly youth, access to the opportunities available. Working with individuals like David Miller (Youth As Entrepreneurs), Derrick Chase (Do For Self), and Lamar Shields (Youth As Entrepreneurs, lasana@msn.com) - Glover has helped provide youth with access to such "education,…opportunities, [and]…love."
Miller, Chase and Shields - all former Baltimore City school teachers who left and formed their own organizations so as to further assist youth - have been colleagues, mentors, and students to Glover. Because of them and others (such as Emmanuel Price - CEO of CBP, Inc., Diane Bell - CEO of Empower Baltimore, Michael Preston - Chief of Public Information & Marketing, and Chris Cager - Baltimore Director of the Enterprise Foundation), he has been able to maintain a consistent pattern of helping youth.
Hence, whether the issue is housing, employment, business networking, education or media - Glover has compiled his many contacts into this all-important Baltimore City community-based resource guide. His desire is to assist in the communication of essential information and ideas pertinent to the bridging of urban regionalism.
Urban regionalism, of course, is that pattern of communities working exclusively versus cooperatively with neighboring and others communities. Doni Glover is committed to using any and all mediums - including the World Wide Web - so as to deliver this useful information.
Use it, peruse it, progress - And please tell a friend! Visit SandtownLive.com Again and again and again! Send your comments via email to: sandtownlive@aol.com. Doni Glover is available for
multi-media marketing, consulting and speaking engagements.
Please call: 410.523.9218.
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