Social justice

Londyn Smith de Richelieu, the director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs in Baltimore, has filed a complaint alleging that she was discriminated against by the office of one of the city’s top gender reassignment surgeons.

Baltimore City Public Schools must counter misconceptions about how school funding is spent and provide schools and the teachers with what they need, says Joseph Mahach, who teaches Algebra I at Patterson High School.

Morgan State University’s new Center for Urban Violence and Crime Reduction will engage all segments of Baltimore as it seeks answers for addressing the “carnage” from gun violence in the city, says Anna McPhatter, dean of Morgan’s School of Social Work and director of the center.

A proposed federal ban on menthol cigarettes has raised concerns among some law enforcement officials and civil rights advocates that it could lead to problematic police encounters, particularly with Black smokers, says Diane Goldstein, a retired police lieutenant who is executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership.

The Biden-Harris Administration is pledging $20 billion to fund clean energy programs across the country, including in underserved communities. The vice president described the funding as “the largest investment in financing for community-based climate projects in our nation.”

Gun violence such as the recent mass shooting in South Baltimore has a lasting effect on how many Baltimore young people view their lives and their community, says Adam Schwartz, an author who has taught high school in Baltimore for 25 years.

There’s never been a consensus in Maryland on the need for reparations, what they might look like or who should qualify for them. Legislation to create a commission on the concept — just study the idea — has died twice in the Maryland General Assembly in the last two years. Maybe, just maybe, we’re about to see the start of a campaign to approach this at the local level.

The pandemic and the national racial reckoning led to a surge in patients and clients for Black therapists. Some of those therapists are still processing the experiences themselves.

Those who agreed to speak to The Banner, some in Spanish, reported racist language and intimidation directed at Latino residents from Charles Smith and members of his family.

The role of community colleges in bringing equity to higher education is all the more crucial after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action in college admission, Sandra L. Kurtinitis, president of the Community College of Baltimore County, says.

Political experts say voters will remember what could be the largest shooting in city history — and Mayor Scott’s leadership in the aftermath.

Those fighting for social and economic justice in America must redouble their efforts in response to setbacks such the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action, columnist E.R. Shipp says.

The June 28, 2018 mass shooting at The Capital and the staff’s dedication to publishing an edition the next day became a symbol of enduring press freedom.

West Baltimore's ill-fated stretch of roadway that has come to be known as the Highway to Nowhere was the product of bad decision making and disregard for the mostly Black neighborhoods it harmed, says E. Evans Paull, a retired city planner and the author of a book about the project's history and impact.

The Baltimore Banner has taken strides in its first year to bring a new and original voice to local journalism, but challenges remain to successfully depart from the approaches of old-school newsrooms, Banner Public Editor DeWayne Wickham says.

Judge Julie Rebecca Rubin ruled that Erie Insurance and The Maryland Insurance Administration have up to 60 days to come to a resolution following the administration’s finding in May that the Pennsylvania-based insurance company used discriminatory practices against Black Baltimore-area brokers, and thus its residents.

Here’s what it looks like after a mass shooting in Maryland’s small-town capital.

Legal actions attacking affirmative action programs threaten to halt or reverse the gains in minority business development in this region and elsewhere, says Sharon Pinder, the president and CEO of the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council.

As marijuana laws are reformed in Maryland, measures are needed to help repair the disproportionate damage the application of those laws did to Black communities and to Black men, Banner columnist E.R. Shipp says.

Providing affordable and flexible consumer loans to people who don’t have access to traditional banking services can transform lives and help boost the economies of places like Baltimore, says Kasra Movahedi, executive director of the International Rescue Committee’s Center for Economic Opportunity.