A series of essays highlighting the ongoing issue of race in the culture, politics, and psyche of America.
This year marks the 8th year of Black History Month posts on this site. When I first began this annual feature, I introduced it with a post about the origins of this special month [https://baltimoreblackwoman.com/2015/02/02/the-origins-of-black-history-month/], as much for my edification as for you, the readers, who may question why this celebration even exists. But the … More Black History Month 2022
Honoring Dr. King: The Enduring Relevance of ‘Letter From a Birmingham Jail’ On Sunday, January 16, 2022, I, along with more than 150 other people, attended this Zoom MLK event, sponsored by Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) and Repair the World. As an ally and friend of the Jewish community, I was excited about both … More Martin Luther King Day 2022
On this 244th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, wherein the seeds of the United States of America were planted, I am struck by how much and how little ,we have achieved. If nothing else, we have fought continuously to define what “independence,” “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” “freedom,” “rights,” and “responsibility” mean. … More Independence Day 2020: Reflections on Monuments, History, and Now
On Wednesday October 9, 2019, at 1pm, I made my way by car from my home in “The Bottoms” of Lauraville, in Northeast Baltimore, to the campus of Morgan State University, Maryland’s illustrious HBCU. The drive took all of 5 minutes, including the time it took me to park on the lot of the former … More Morgan State University Oral History Project: My Story – A Black Woman Raised in Lauraville
Anne & Emmett, a Play Last night (Friday, April 26), I attended a play presented by the Theatre Department of Baltimore’s Morgan State University called Anne & Emmett, written by Janet Langhart Cohen, which imagines a conversation between two young, historic victims of hate crimes: Anne Frank (1929-1945), the well-known German Jewish Holocaust victim, and … More Love Must Conquer Hate: Lessons from a Theatre Play Exploring Past Hatred and A Hate Crime in Today’s News
The front-page story in the Sunday, July 15,2018 digital edition of The Baltimore Sun(“Collapse,” by Tim Prudente, http://digitaledition.baltimoresun.com/html5/desktop/production/default.aspx?pubid=99644e1a-52da-4fe3-8f78-a84e4fe4d386&edid=2192616c-ec73-42b8-a798-f58dedfe23f0&pnum=87),describing the demise of the 900 block of Payson Street, is a decent investigative piece about the real-estate woes of a single block of West Baltimore rowhouses and the recent loss of one human life because of those … More The Real Story of the 900 Block of Payson Street
Prologue On Tuesday, in Baltimore, rain poured from the sky, as if God, Himself, was mourning the aftermath of the Charlottesville protests over Confederate monuments—even before Donald Trump unmasked himself to the world as a defender of bigotry and hatred. Yesterday morning, local television station WBAL reported that in the early morning hours, Baltimore Mayor … More Against the Backdrop of 21st Century Racial Turmoil, The Afro-American Newspaper Celebrates Its 125th Anniversary
Over the course of this month, I collected and shared many Black History Month stories on Facebook, with the intention of presenting them as themed posts on this page throughout the month. Unfortunately, I, like so many of you, have been so overwhelmed and frightened by our current national and international calamity of an Un-president … More Black History Month 2017: Feature #2—The Beauty and Dignity of Black People
On Monday evening, February 13, 2017, I had the privilege of joining an audience of close to 1100 people who came to hear an impressive array of Baltimore’s intelligentsia speak on behalf of the current plight of immigrants to the U.S., who have been caught in the crosshairs and chaos of #45. Sponsored and led … More City of Immigrants: A Night of Support
I must apologize for my lateness. Here we are, nearly halfway through Black History Month, and I am just now writing my first post. Nevertheless, I have been compiling a number of features to share. Where possible, I will embed either the full text or excerpts of sources I have used. In other cases, I … More Black History Month 2017 – Feature #1: Frederick Douglass
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