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The 89th national convention of the AFT was held in DC this month, from July 15-19, and AFT Maryland members were there, including delegates and guests from many of our Maryland locals. Represented for the first time at convention were our newest organized unions, the United Academics of Maryland-Community Colleges (UAMD-CC) and the University of Maryland Resident and Fellow Alliance (UMRFA). 

Over 3500 delegates and visitors attended the AFT Convention 2026, making it the largest convention in the past 15 years. AFT celebrated organizing 179 new units across the country, including the two new locals from Maryland - UAMD-CC and UMRFA. 

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Today, we're proud to celebrate a richly deserved recognition – our very own President Kenya Campbell was just elected at the 89th AFT National Convention to serve as Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers. Kenya joins the 43-member national body that helps lead our 1.875 million-member union alongside President Randi Weingarten, Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick C. Ingram, and Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus.

This recognition is a testament to everything Kenya has built and everything our union has achieved under her leadership. Since taking on the presidency in 2021, Kenya has led AFT Maryland with fierce dedication, sharp strategy, and an unwavering commitment to the workers who keep our state running.

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This year, America celebrates 250 years of independence, a milestone made possible by those who dared to imagine a nation with ideals of liberty, justice, self-governance, and hope for a better future.

The freedoms we now enjoy were hard-fought by individuals who, 250 years ago, stood up to tyranny, to kings who would rather have kept them as subjects. These rights and freedoms should not be taken for granted and must be fought for and defended by each generation. 

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The past is always present in some way in our lives.

On June 19, 1865, Union troops rode into Galveston, Texas, and delivered the news that the last enslaved people in the Confederacy were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. That day, freedom finally became real for the last of the enslaved. Long-held dreams and prayers had become reality.

And that freedom brought meaningful progress...

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Pride is the unwavering conviction that every person deserves to live, work, and love without fear. It is joy in defiance of those who would deny it, community in defiance of those who would isolate, and visibility in defiance of those who would erase. 

And at a moment in time when our LGBTQ+ community is once again under attack by policies that threaten their rights and lawmakers who use their lives as political pawns, we will not remain silent as we stand shoulder to shoulder in support of our queer friends, family, neighbors, and members.

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Honoring the fallen is not just about remembrance, but about action and remaining committed to fighting for the dignity, equity, and collective welfare of all people. The betterment of our communities, of our nation, and of our future relies on it.

As the nation pauses to commemorate those who gave their lives in service, we must remember that their sacrifice built the freedoms we hold, and it is our responsibility to carry forward that legacy of service in the lives we lead.

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This month, AFT Maryland proudly celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week, National Nurses Week, National Hospital Week, and Public Service Recognition Week – a moment to pause and say thank you to the people who keep Maryland running.

And this year, that thank you feels more important than ever.

At a moment when attacks on the rights of all workers remain at an all-time high – on top of the efforts to undermine our public schools, reject basic science, and abolish vital public services – we also see the efforts to push uncontrolled technology as a replacement for the work you passionately do every single day. 

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The AFT PSRP leadership conference last month came chock-full of advice from activists on how to optimize campaigns, whether they focus on organizing, politics, a living wage or community service. PSRP co-chairs Carl Williams and Sarah Wofford led the proceedings. Williams is president of the Lawndale (Calif.) Federation of Classified Employees, a former school custodian and president of California’s classified members. Wofford is an accounting specialist for Rogue Community College and president of the Oregon School Employees Association. Eighteen AFT locals sent paraprofessionals and school-related personnel to Chicago April 10-12 for the conference.

As the Trump administration continues to attack higher education—cutting research grants, targeting free speech and restricting classroom materials—the AFT and the American Association of University Professors have unveiled a powerful new blueprint to restore and preserve higher education, just in time for the 2026 midterms.

AFT nurses and healthcare professionals from across the country gathered in Detroit April 13-15. They came carrying the weight of understaffing, growing patient demand and a healthcare system under attack but left with something stronger: a shared sense of purpose and concrete plans to act. The “Together We Care” 2026 professional issues conference wasn’t about passive listening. It was a rehearsal for what comes next.