Our Podcast
Hiruy Hadgu
Hiruy Hadgu is a community activist focused on improving laws that affect land-use and zoning. As a founding member of the Progressive Democrats of Howard County, he works to bring attention to how such laws affect public infrastructure such as schools, roads, public transit, the environment, and the county's budget. The equitable allocation of resources relies on wealthy developer corporations paying their fair share.
Jake Burdett
Jake graduated Magna Cum Laude from Salisbury University in May 2020 majoring in Political Science and minoring in Economics. During his time in college, Jake became involved in progressive politics, organized around issues such as Medicare for All, Fight for $15, paid sick leave, and getting corporate money out of politics. He is a former Vice Chair of the Wicomico County Democratic Central Committee, where he was the youngest elected Central Committee member in the state. He recently served as President of the Columbia Democratic Club and co-President of the Salisbury University College Democrats.
Check out all our Podcast Episodes
Our Most Recent Episodes:
PDHC Podcast Ep. 25: Howard County Auditor's Investigation of the Alleged Misconduct at the Library System
On February 14, 2023, the County Auditor’s Office released its findings of an investigation of the actions taken by the Howard County Library System President Tonya Aikens. The black and white political class allied with the County Executive Calvin Ball and Councilmembers Opel Jones and Christiana Rigby immediately waged a campaign to discredit the investigation by alleging racial motives. Jake and Hiruy discuss the investigation and how it was exploited by establishment.
PDHC Podcast Ep 24: Columbia at 55, on Creeping Segregation and Lack of Affordable Housing
Interview with Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Organizing, Policy, and Equity, and co-author of Columbia At 55: Creeping Segregation And Lack Of Affordable Housing Threatens A Legacy Of Black/White Integration on Columbia’s demographic trends since its inception. Specifically, Columbia started as a place to integrate communities of different race and economics at a time where the vast majority of the Country implemented the opposite policies. With time, this intentional effort to create an integrated community has evaporated and was replaced with concentration of lower-income communities. While Rouse’s efforts were intentional in purpose, it can also be argued that the latter efforts by other developers were also intentional in that the zoning and land-use laws led to de-facto segregation.