Recently, I spoke at a journalism conference about the work we are doing at Baltimore Beat. I said I think part of our mission is corrective journalism. We correct the record when it comes to the many racist lies told about Black people to continue to oppress us. We provide context and history. We pick up the ideas that may have fallen in the cracks. These aren’t roles that are exclusive to Baltimore Beat. It’s always been the job of the Black press to meet these needs.
In this issue, journalist Grace Hebron writes about Rev. Dr. Alvin Hathaway Sr.’s quest to open the Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center. In a way, he is correcting history, too. For the past 20 years, he has been on a mission to rehabilitate the building where Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once went to school. He wants it to be a reminder of this city’s greatness and a source of education and enrichment for the community.
“Quite honestly, I have the same feeling about the potential of this building that [I get] when I look into the eyes of my grandsons,” Hathaway told Hebron.
“I think the biggest hope that I have is that two or three years from now, we’ll see young people walking the streets of Baltimore with the feeling that they are a part of a ‘Justice league,’” he said.
Also in this issue, photographer and writer Sydney J. Allen shares photos and her memories of The Crown. The music venue and Korean food spot closed abruptly in early August, the latest in a long line of North Avenue mainstays to shutter. Allen, it turns out, was quite literally born to party, and she says The Crown was a space for young artists like her to sweat and have a good time. Last year, Baltimore Beat published some of the photos Allen has taken during VERSION, a dance party for queer and trans people that was held regularly at The Crown.
“There may never be another club like The Crown, but there will always be a DIY space, there will always be club music, and there will always be talented artists with a vision and a need to dance,” she writes.
This issue, we have something new: a crossword puzzle created by Juliana Pache. Pache is an Afro-Caribbean who founded and runs the website Black Crossword. She does it to “create puzzles that engage with Black popular culture while playfully and meaningfully challenging our users and educating solvers.”
As always, you’ll find your tarotscope reading for September, a film review from Dominic Griffin, and a poem from Writers in Baltimore Schools participant Daniel Durante.
I’m wrapping this letter up by asking for a favor from our readers: We are looking to get as many young people in the city as possible to take part in our Fall 2024 Youth Election Survey. This will help us as we prepare our next Youth Voter Guide. We are centering youth voices in our coverage and reporting on the issues most important to young people, so we want to talk to as many local area youth as possible.
As always, thank you for reading.
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