There’s sad, sad news today in the world of politics: the death of powerful Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland.
The Associated Press obituary — which will be the one many thousands of Americans read — captures key highlights of Cummings’ prominent life.
Yes, those highlights include clashing with President Donald Trump:
BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a sharecropper’s son who rose to become a civil rights champion and the chairman of one of the U.S. House committees leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, died Thursday of complications from longstanding health problems. He was 68.
Cummings was a formidable orator who advocated for the poor in his black-majority district , which encompasses a large portion of Baltimore and more well-to-do suburbs.
As chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Cummings led investigations of the president’s government dealings, including probes in 2019 relating to Trump’s family members serving in the White House.
But read the full AP report, and it’s clear that something is missing.
AP offers hints of a potential religious influence in Cummings’ life, including here:
It steeled Cummings to prove that counselor wrong. He became not only a lawyer, but one of the most powerful orators in the statehouse, where he entered office in 1983. He rose to become the first black House speaker pro tem. He would begin his comments slowly, developing his theme and raising the emotional heat until it became like a sermon from the pulpit.
Hmmmmm. Why might Cummings’ oratory have resembled a sermon?
And the AP’s final two paragraphs get even closer to the spiritual elephant in the room:
In 2015, when the death of black Baltimore resident Freddie Gray sparked the city’s worst riots in decades, Cummings carried a bullhorn in the streets and urged crowds to go home and respect a curfew. He spoke at Gray’s funeral, asking lawmakers in the church to stand up to show Gray’s mother they would seek justice.
“I want justice, oceans of it. I want fairness, rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want,” Cummings said, quoting from the Bible.
But AP’s obit never mentions a key detail included up high in the Washington Post. See if you notice it:
Elijah E. Cummings, a Democratic congressman from Maryland who gained national attention for his principled stands on politically charged issues in the House, his calming effect on anti-police riots in Baltimore, and his forceful opposition to the presidency of Donald Trump, died Oct. 17 at a hospice center in Baltimore. He was 68.
The cause was “complications concerning long-standing health challenges,” his office said in a statement. Mr. Cummings was chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a leading figure in the Trump impeachment inquiry and had been out of his office for weeks while recovering from an unspecified medical procedure.
Born to a family of Southern sharecroppers and Baptist preachers, Mr. Cummings grew up in the racially fractured Baltimore of the 1950s and 1960s. At 11, he helped integrate a local swimming pool while being attacked with bottles and rocks. “Perry Mason,” the popular TV series about a fictional defense lawyer, inspired him to enter the legal profession.
A family of … Baptist preachers.
That didn’t take up a lot of space but offered crucial context, right?
Later, the Post notes this concerning Cummings’ actions after Gray’s death:
Amid the unrest, he and a dozen other residents marched, arm in arm, through the streets, singing “This Little Light of Mine.”
For the record, “This Little Light of Mine” is generally a church song.
In today’s Post “Acts of Faith” email newsletter, religion writer Julie Zauzmer pointed out:
I wasn't surprised to read in Jenna Portnoy's informative obituary that Cummings belonged to New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore and grew up in a family of Baptist preachers. I remember the powerful moment in 2015, when Cummings took his bullhorn into the streets of an aching Baltimore after Freddie Gray died of injuries suffered in a police van, and the congressman led the crowd in "This Little Light of Mine." I've listened to his memorable cadence in his speeches on the House floor.
That's the sound of the black church, instantly recognizable. Cummings brought that delivery, and that faith, to his work in Congress. He will be missed.
Cummings’ hometown Baltimore Sun also didn’t miss the religion angle. Its main obit quotes Cummings’ pastor in the fourth paragraph:
Bishop Walter Thomas of New Psalmist Baptist Church, where Cummings worshiped for nearly 40 years, said he spoke with Cummings as he was going into hospice and said the congressman was there “for only a matter of hours.” Thomas declined to comment further, citing pastoral confidentiality.
In a sidebar, the Sun delves deeper into Cummings’ faith:
U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings practiced his faith the same way he practiced his politics, according to his pastor: Steadfastly and always in the front row.
Even as the late congressman’s health declined and he fought intense battles against President Donald Trump, Cummings regularly attended New Psalmist Baptist Church, according to Bishop Walter Thomas, longtime pastor of the Baltimore church.
“If he was in his chair, he was there. If he was walking, he was there. He was still up front. He was not a back-seat person," Thomas said in an interview Thursday.
Thomas said he spent time with Cummings after the congressman was transferred into hospice care.
“He was such an amazing person. ... His mind was sharp until the moment that God called him home,” Thomas said.
It’s obvious that Cummings’ faith was an important aspect of his life.
Hopefully, AP will recognize that in its later coverage and perhaps even in an update of its original obit.