Hot girls are fierce, unapologetic, and beautiful. In this issue, we pay homage to every one of them.
This issue was inspired by rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s upcoming visit to Baltimore. She’ll perform at CFG Bank Arena on May 28 at 7 p.m. as part of her Hot Girl Summer tour.
“I want to kick this off by saying my body, my business,” the rapper said at a Planned Parenthood gala last month, where she was being honored.
The dismantling of Roe v. Wade in different parts of this country means that the bodies of people who give birth are in danger. For this issue, we talked to the people at the Baltimore Abortion Fund, who are working to do what they can to create a world that is safe, healthy, and even joyful when it comes to reproductive health and family planning.
“It’s not just funding for someone’s procedure,” Baltimore Abortion Fund Co-Director Lynn McCann-Yeh told journalist Grace Hebron. “But also support with all of the other aspects that go into accessing health care and really trying to be expansive in the way that we provide those services. We’re trying to figure out what people need and get it to them.”
Baltimore Abortion Fund’s other co-director, Porsha Pinder, told Hebron that a blue state like Maryland may feel like a safe place to be, but that safety is relative.
“The thing that’s been really hard is this idea that Maryland is safe and that everything is functioning in the way that it needs to,” Pinder said. “I think that’s just not true. ‘Legal’ does not mean accessible. As long as abortion is restricted anywhere, it’s not really accessible.”
Hot girls are timeless. That’s why rapper Sistah Dee, who helped organize the hip-hop showcase Eze Jackson writes about in this issue, can shout out Queen Latifah and Yo Yo when she talks about the way women rappers support each other in Baltimore.
“There’s a saying, ‘there’s nothing new under the sun,’” she told Jackson. “I believe even with the different types of women that rap, those that embody emceeism (lyricism, respect, and honoring of the art) are now again more open to working together and creating platforms that spotlight us.”
Hot girls are audacious — and that’s exactly how I’d describe Randallstown native and basketball star Angel Reese, who Kyle J. Andrews writes about in this issue. Reese recently attended the Met Gala, graduated college (on time), and started her professional basketball career — all without a hair out of place.
“So now what? what was said? oh okay that’s what i thought. I graduated from THE LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY IN 4 YEARS ON TIME,” she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after she graduated.
Andrews writes about Reese’s Baltimore roots, her ascension, and how much her family means to her.
Hot girls also give new life to the somewhat staid genre of sports films. That’s what Zendaya does in her latest film, “Challengers.” You may have heard it’s about a love triangle, but Dominic Griffin says there’s so much more going on.
“‘Challengers’ feels like a time machine back to an era where seeing a handful of talented and photogenic actors unravel interpersonal relationships was enough to get butts in seats at the multiplex,” he wrote.
This issue also includes June tarotscopes from Iya Osundara Ogunsina and a poem written by Writers in Baltimore Schools participant Jaden Lemessy.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
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