Social justice

Nearly 140 years ago, a white mob lynched a Black teenager in front of the old Towson jail. On Saturday, a ceremony remembers Howard Cooper.

In what they are calling a “historic” event, the Annapolis Police Department, as well as the ACLU of Maryland, is being recognized by the Caucus of African American Leaders.

Now that Baltimore Pride is over, some in the LGBTQIA+ community know that the fight for gender minority rights and existence also relies heavily on having meaningful straight allies.

An estimated 2,500 people turned out for the third annual event to celebrate Baltimore's trans community. The event included a parade, a block party and a street renaming.

Lines carved by the wind on the sand are no different than what followed the violence that ended five lives on June 28, 2018 — energy moving from one form to another.

President Joe Biden pardoned former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, which will clear the way for them to regain lost benefits. The pardon goes even further to protect LGBTQIA+ service members than the controversial policy “don’t ask, don’t tell” that was repealed in 2010.

The longtime head of the state office responsible for nursing home inspections will retire, officials announced about a month after a major lawsuit against the agency.

A Baltimore spokesperson said that Mace was released after two groups of people got into an altercation, but people who attended think something else happened.

Baltimore voters who might've passed up the opportunity to cast their ballots during the primaries must fully participate in November because of what's at stake nationally, journalist and professor E.R. Shipp says.

Morelys Urbano, a Morgan State University student and fellow who advocates for language justice, relates how her native language sustained her as she navigated the necessity of learning English.

I’m recounting the almost forgotten, violent history of the days after enslaved Marylanders were freed not because I want to spoil the Juneteenth Parade and Festival on June 22. But appreciating the meaning of this holiday is more than just a party. It is about honoring survival.

When disasters such as the Key Bridge collapse occur, media and government attention on issues related to the loss of life are often lacking, says a Columbia University student and writer.

Despite mischaracterizations about the encampment at Johns Hopkins University protesting the war in Gaza, what actually took place was peaceful and constructive, Hopkins Professor Lester Spence says.

Carlton R. Smith, a fixture in the city who advocated for Black and brown members of the LGBTQ community and was currently fighting to decriminalize HIV in the state, died in his sleep May 29 in his Mount Vernon condominium. He was 61.

A parade with dozens of groups — including a boisterous drumline, dancers, politicians searching for votes and many, many people waving rainbow flags — crawled up Main Street and West Street.

“Very close races can be won or lost based on LGBTQ voters,” says one expert.

Maryland’s Attorney General has signed on to a push for a federal civil rights investigation into a Texas police officer pardoned by that state’s governor after being convicted of killing a social justice protester.

The “tough-on-crime” approaches to juvenile justice signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore have proved ineffective in the past because they fail to adequately consider the root causes of youth crime, the CEO of the Juvenile Law Center says.

Black residents and women are underrepresented on the Baltimore County Council, and a petition to put council expansion on the November ballot aims to address that, the deputy executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland says.

Meeting the the needs of migrant children in Maryland and their families will make our communities stronger, a Pikesville physician says.