Social justice

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.

Delays with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid means students can’t make decisions about which college they will attend.

Communities must stand against the language that criminalizes and dehumanizes immigrants, says the managing attorney of an organization supporting immigrant survivors of gender-based violence in Baltimore.

Maryland must do more to address the educational, health and other urgent needs of migrant children, say a Johns Hopkins primary care pediatrician and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Preparing to speak at the funeral of Roger Fortson, who was shot and killed by police at his Florida home, the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, a former Baltimore pastor, revisits his Freddie Gray eulogy and his outrage fueled by the deaths of young Black men during interactions with police.

A measure to change the selection process for Baltimore County's Planning Board might have less to do with concerns about planning generally and more to do with opposition to mixed-use development that would include affordable housing, says a county resident who writes about law and local government issues.

As the Project Play Summit convenes in Baltimore, participants will be exploring how communities can provide needed resources to expand youth sports participation, says the community impact director of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program and its Project Play initiative.

The rally came out of Prince George’s County just after midnight when police were alerted it was on the move. Anne Arundel County Police say the drivers were headed for the Giant Food parking lot in Gambrills, where they planned to set up an exhibition of wildness behind the wheel.

Despite polarization and unrest on college and university campuses, the institutions can find ways to make constructive use of that conflict, say the University of Baltimore's president and a professor of public and international affairs.