WELCOME
MARYLAND HERITAGE TOURISM SUMMIT & EXPO Theme: Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Inspiring the Future Hosts: MHTSE- Co-chairs: Cheryl A. Coles, Francine Allen, Morgan State University Student: Jazmen Wilkerson Summit Convenor: Lou Fields, President, Baltimore African American Tourism Council, Inc.
Thank you for attending and supporting the inaugural Maryland Heritage Tourism Summit and Business Expo. Join us in honoring the people of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Many a Easternshoreman have worn the uniform of the American Armed Forces. As we celebrate the November 11, 2025, National Veterans Day, we remember Uncle Nace aka Nathaniel Hopkins, a former Eastern Shore enslaved person, who served in the United States Colored Troops fighting for the Union Army’s dual cause; the effort to abolish slavery and the effort to save the Union.
Lou Fields, Convenor
Today we gather in the hometown of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and travel paths where Henry Highland Garnet, Jr., Samuel Green, William Still, Gloria Richard- son, Sam Ringgold Ward, Evelyn Townsend, Dr. Kay McElvey, John Crieghton, Anna Murray, Dr. William Hychte, Charles and Jeanette Chipman, Dr. Ron Managua Kare- na, and Dr. Earl Richardson all traveled. Today in Maryland, we have the nation’s only African American Governor; we have Senator Angela Alsobrooks, the first African American to be elected to the United States Senate from the State of Maryland; we have the nation’s largest number of African Americans serving in a state legislature. The only remaining question is: Are Maryland’s political and business leaders & their organizations working with their members, ready to take leadership, and work together to create more wealth creation and business opportunities for people of color? Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Parity are not dead and cannot be eradicated by any one person, not even the President of the United States. This is our Project 2026. Let’s Win Back The House Special thanks to Dr. Robert L. Wallace, Commander William Griffin, our sponsors, supporters, speakers, vendors, awardees, staff, our student interns, volunteers, and our co-chairs Cheryl A. Coles and Francine Allen. Note: The second Summit will be held in Annapolis on Thursday, January 15, 2026 Onward & Upward! Lou Fields www.atasteofsoul.biz / www.bdxlive.biz atasteofsoul443@gmail.com | Tel: 443.983.7974 (on the cover, l-r, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Gloria Richardson, Henry Highland Garnet, Jr.)
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