“Make some noise if you’re standing on the right side of history,” a member of the group Maryland 2 Palestine said to a crowd gathered at Lawyer’s Mall in downtown Annapolis on January 7.

The First Amendment/Palestinian Solidarity Rally was organized by 22 groups, including the Maryland chapter of ​​the Council on American-Islamic Relations, The Black Alliance for Peace, Jewish Voices for Peace – Baltimore, Teachers Against Genocide, and more. It was held in the shadow of the Maryland State House, just before the state’s General Assembly was set to begin a new session. The timing wasn’t a coincidence. 

Organizers said they were sending a message to local leaders to halt this country’s funding of the assault on the Gaza Strip. They also wanted to highlight the way they said pro-Palestinian voices have been silenced.

On October 7, the Palestinian group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The group killed 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages. In response, Israel initiated an aggressive assault, dropping bombs and laying siege to the area. Although the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has had the full support of the United States, many people, both here and across the globe, have condemned the military onslaught. 

People who sympathize with Israel say the attacks are warranted to eliminate the threat that Hamas poses to the Israeli people. However, many people have rallied around Palestinians, saying that the incessant bombing, which has killed over 25,000 Palestinians — including a large number of children and infants — constitutes genocide and is only the latest act in a long history of settler colonial violence.

“Critics say Israel’s overwhelming military response — which includes dropping 6,000 bombs on Gaza in the first six days of the conflict alone —  amounts to collective punishment against a population living in what human rights groups call the ‘world’s largest open-air prison,’” journalist Jaisal Noor reported for Baltimore Beat in October. “The term [apartheid] has also been used to describe Israel’s five-decade brutal military occupation of Palestinians, enforced by suppressing nonviolent protests and confining their populations into scattered enclaves using Palestinian-only roads and military checkpoints.” 

Recently, a panel of 17 judges at the International Court of Justice weighed in on the issue.

“Today, in a landmark interim order, the court determined that South Africa has legal standing and ordered Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide,” Time Magazine reported on Jan. 26.

Many who have spoken out about the plight of Palestinian people have reported being punished for their support. In November, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown removed Zainab Chaudry, director of CAIR’s Maryland chapter, from her post on the state’s Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention over social media posts she made that were critical of the Israeli government. She was reinstated when it was discovered that Brown didn’t have the power to remove anyone from the commission before their term was up.

Last November, immigrants’ rights group CASA de Maryland drew controversy when they tweeted a statement that expressed support for Palestinians along with a condemnation of attacks on innocent Israelis. A group of Maryland lawmakers released a letter denouncing the statement, saying “We cannot and will not allow taxpayer money to subsidize hate speech.” CASA de Maryland later apologized for their statements. 

Standing before a crowd of over 100 people, speakers at the January rally highlighted these incidents, as well as other incidents like it.

“While the horrors of this occupation occur in Palestine, our local, state, and federal institutions have manufactured a culture of fear around speaking out against these atrocities,” the speaker from Maryland 2 Palestine continued. “In a country that prides itself on the so-called rights and freedoms that it offers to its citizens, they are actively repressing our free speech when we say we do not want to fund or support genocide.”

Other speakers at the rally included Towson University college students who said they are being unfairly punished by the school for a November “die-in” protest action and a Montgomery County teacher who was placed on leave for using the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” in her email signature. Attendees marched around downtown Annapolis, circling the historic St. Anne’s Episcopal Church and heading down West Street. As they marched, they were slowly trailed by Annapolis police in marked police vehicles. 

The rally represented a broad coalition of groups who have come together as the longstanding conflict has dominated news cycles and images of death and destruction have taken over social media feeds. These groups have pressed local leaders like U.S. Representative Kweisi Mfume and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen to call for a cease-fire. They have also organized marches through Baltimore and at events like the annual lighting of the Washington Monument last December to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinian people.

Full disclosure: Spurred by the unprecedented attack on Palestinian journalists, Baltimore Beat was among signatories to a letter that urged Van Hollen to call for a cease-fire.

Erica Caines of The Black Alliance For Peace was at the rally. She said her organization has an obligation to support the people of Palestine. 

“The Black Alliance for Peace is an alliance of organizations and individual members, but first and foremost it is an anti-war, anti-imperialist alliance. It models itself under the Black radical tradition of the peace movement,” Caines told me in a phone interview a few weeks after the rally. “So in that vein, we sort of have an innate responsibility to internationalism.”

Caines said that Palestinians have a right to exist in Palestine — and to defend themselves. She also said this issue isn’t a new one, and bonds between Black people and Palestinians have been established for some time. 

“Palestine has been dealing with this or dealing with the question of settler colonialism, we could argue, for 100 years,” she said. “Africans have kept up to date with what’s been going on, but also been able to recognize the deeper connections of settler colonialism, the question of land, the question of self-determination, the question of sovereignty.” 

She said that Palestinians have historically shown up for Black people, as well. 

“We can talk about African and Black people being in solidarity with Palestine, but… Palestinians have also been in solidarity with Africans…particularly in the Black Lives Matter moment in 2014.”

She highlighted that police in Israel often train with departments in the United States, including Baltimore’s police department. 

Zackary Berger helped organize a Hanukkah event at Van Hollen’s office late last year and also met with the senator over Zoom to plead activists’ case. Berger is a member of the Baltimore chapter of IfNotNow. The organization describes itself as “a movement of American Jews organizing our community to end U.S. support for Israel’s apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis.”

On January 21, Van Hollen called for a cease-fire in addition to the return of hostages. 

“There is a lot of good organizing against the war in Gaza and against the ongoing mass murder of Palestinians. And that is really heartening,” Berger said. “I’m glad that there are people waking up to this in the Jewish community, and in Baltimore generally and on the left.”

He also said it’s important to identify and eliminate hate — wherever it pops up.

“Understanding that there is antisemitism on the left, just like there’s racism on the left, and we need to confront these and speak about them openly,” he said.

Organizers from the group Greater Baltimore Residents for a Ceasefire say that there is still much work to do. 

“We know that the only way to fight organized money is with organized people power, and making sure that we actually brought all of the various groups in Baltimore together under this message that we all believe in really strongly,” said Anna Evans-Goldstein, speaking on behalf of the group.

“Calling for a cease-fire publicly is really the bare minimum….  An overwhelming majority of Democrats, want a cease-fire and want our government to call for a cease-fire, and it is, frankly, absurd that we have been needing to do this much work to convince our elected officials to do the bare minimum.”

The group is currently collecting individual signatures for a letter asking Maryland’s congressional representatives to support a cease-fire. They are also asking Marylanders to email lawmakers here asking them to co-sponsor Montgomery County Delegate Gabriel Acevero’s cease-fire resolution. 

“This fight is still ongoing,” Evans-Goldstein said. She said people should join the fight and also support the businesses that have already called for a cease-fire. 

“There’s a lot of small businesses that signed a letter … I’d encourage people to frequent their business there because across the board, organizations and businesses…[have]  been targeted for speaking up about this.”

The post Maryland groups continue calls for a cease-fire in Gaza appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

For this issue, I wrote about the broad coalition of city and state-based groups who have organized around the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Organizers have been busy since October 7. They have called for a cease-fire, highlighted the suppression of individuals and organizations that have voiced support for Palestinians, and organized protests and rallies in Baltimore and beyond. They have also pressured lawmakers U.S. Representative Kweisi Mfume and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen to take hard stances against the war, even showing up outside Van Hollen’s home early in the morning on January 10 with signs and red paint. 

Erica Caines, of the group The Black Alliance For Peace, told me that Black people and Palestinian people have long had solidarity with each other. She said her organization’s anti-war stance means they are committed to speaking out on Palestinian citizens’ behalf. 

“The Black Alliance for Peace is an alliance of organizations and individual members, but first and foremost it is an anti-war, anti-imperialist alliance. It models itself under the Black radical tradition of the peace movement,” she told me.

Also in this issue, Dominic Griffin writes about Ava DuVernay’s new film, “Origin.” It’s an adaptation of the book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent,” written by Isabel Wilkerson. Griffin says the transition from the pages of a book to a movie screen flattens out the details of a complex issue of race. 

“An overwrought dinner table discussion between Wilkerson and her German friend Sabine (Connie Nielsen) turns into a debate about which was worse, slavery or the Holocaust. The back-and-forth closely resembles the worst nesting-doll quote-tweet argument on the subject,” he writes.

Bry Reed wrote about the novel “How to Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir,” written by Safiya Sinclair.

“We are ushered into an intimate story of Black girlhood framed by colonial domination and religious persecution,” Reed writes. 

Iya Osundara Ogunsina has your February tarotscope reading.

As always, young people are represented in this issue. We have images created by Wide Angle Youth Media, and a poem from Writers in Baltimore Schools participant Joseph Flores.

Thank you so much for reading.

The post Letter from the editor – Issue 33 appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Wednesday, Jan. 31

West Wednesdays: Hear about the ongoing fight for police accountability in the Tyrone West case and all victims of police misconduct. This event happens every Wednesday. For more information, go to: facebook.com/justicefortyronewest.

Community Blood Drive: Help the community by participating in a blood drive sponsored by the Red Cross and the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 7401 Park Heights Avenue. For more information, go to redcrossblood.org to make an appointment or call 1-800-733-2767.

Quarterly Chat and Chew: Monthly dinner conversation with the Citizens Policing Project, residents and partners to discuss the current progression in Baltimore’s efforts to reimagine public safety. Registration required. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at St. Peter Claver Hall, 1546 N. Fremont Avenue. For more information, go to cpproject.org.

With Us For Us: Teach-In On Community Wealth Building: Join guest speakers as they discuss community wealth building and Baltimore City’s payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with 15 hospitals and universities. 6 p.m. at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, 3128 Greenmount Avenue. For more information, go to redemmas.org.

Thursday, Feb. 1

Baltimore City Public Schools: Join the City Schools team! Baltimore City Schools are hiring for teachers, substitutes, school counselors and more. Noon to4 p.m. at the Professional Development Center, 2500 E. Northern Parkway.

Friday, Feb. 2

Give Kids A Smile Day with the Maryland State Dental Association: CareFirst is collaborating with the Maryland State Dental Association and the American Dental Association Foundation’s Give Kids A Smile program to provide oral health education, basic oral exams and fluoride treatments to children in grades K-5. Feb. 2-3 at CareFirst Engagement Center, 1501 South Clinton Street Suite 100. For more information, go to carefirst.com/cec.

Saturday, Feb. 3

Yoga in the Library: Yoga is a breath-based practice that combines movement in unison with our breath. This class is for anyone who wishes to explore yoga further or as a beginner. 10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. at the Enoch Pratt Library, 1030 S. Ellwood Avenue. For more information, go to prattlibrary.org or call 410-396‑5430. 

Bmore Budgets: Community Budget Forum (In person): Come out for the opportunity to connect with city leadership, engage in interactive discussions, and share insights from your perspective as a resident. The City of Baltimore’s Budget Feedback Sessions allow residents to share their insights on the community. 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Baltimore Unity Hall, 1505 Eutaw Place. For more information, go to bbmr.baltimorecity.gov/bmore-budgets.  

B’More Youth Summit: Food, gifts, free resources, and more. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Middle Branch Wellness Center, 201 Reedbird Avenue. For more information, go to weourusmovement.org. 

Historic Change: Celebrating the Activism and Impact of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray:  Join the opening of the “Black Woman Genius” exhibition to learn and explore the civil rights activism and impact of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt Street. For more information, go to lewismuseum.org.

Heart of the Butterfly: Designing Peace in Station North: Co-create with leaders designing peace and healing damage caused by redlining in Station North. 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Impact Hub Baltimore, 10 East North Avenue. For more information, go to baltimore.impacthub.net. 

Sunday, Feb. 4

Run/Walk for Palestine: Join Runners4Justice on Sundays to run/walk for Palestine! We know that we are all connected, from Baltimore to Palestine, across the country and around the world, and none of us are free until all of us are free. All paces welcome! Routes will be provided with options for 2, 3, or 4 miles. Meet outside Red Emma’s, 3128 Greenmount Avenue, at 9:15 a.m. (doors open at 10 a.m.), run/walk starts at 9:30. For more information, follow Runners4Justice on Facebook and Instagram.

Monday, Feb.  5

Police Accountability Board Meeting: The Police Accountability Board for Baltimore City regularly meets virtually on the first Monday of each month. 6 p.m. For more information, go to civilrights.baltimorecity.gov/meetings-1.

Bmore Budgets: Community Budget Forum (Virtual): Come out for the opportunity to connect with city leadership, engage in interactive discussions, and share insights from your perspective as a resident. The City of Baltimore’s Budget Feedback Sessions allow residents to share their insights on the community. 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, go to bbmr.baltimorecity.gov/bmore-budgets.

Wednesday, Feb.  7

Paving the Path to Equality: Exploration of Baltimore City’s Past and Present Initiatives: Ebony M. Thompson, Dana P. Moore and José Anderson will speak on Baltimore City’s racial past and what the government is doing and can do to address lingering racial disparities. Lunch will be served. Noon to 2 p.m. at Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, 100 N. Calvert Street, Room 504. For more information go to baltimorebar.org/calendar.

Men’s Rap: Wellness resources for the community, presented by the Pride Center of Maryland. Every first and third Wednesday of the month. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Druid Heights Community Center, 2140 McCulloh Street. For more information, go to:.pridecentermd.org or call: 443-873-0369.

Charisse Burden-Stelly Presents Black Scare/Red Scare: Join Black Alliance for Peace members Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly and Erica Caines in discussion about “Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States.” 7 p.m. at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, 3128 Greenmount Avenue. For more information, go to redemmas.org.

The post Baltimore Government and Community Events 1/31/24–2/7/24 appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Air Signs – Aquarius, Gemini, Libra

Eight of Swords rx + The Magician + Queen of Swords 

February is the month to get out of your head, air signs. Maybe you spent January overthinking and nitpicking your 2024 goals—becoming overwhelmed before you even get started. Take a deep breath and remember the year’s just getting started! How are you already counting yourself out? Break things down into more manageable parts. You’re resourceful and this is nothing you haven’t done before. Stop freaking out and remember who you are, you got this! 

Fire Signs – Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Seven of Wands rx + Ace of Swords + Ten of Pentacles 

Fire signs, if you’ve been dealing with internal conflict over a major decision, February will bring with it some much-needed clarity. It could come as a conversation with a friend, or maybe you’ll have a major epiphany during some alone time. When you have that realization, you must push the anxiety aside and move forward. Ask yourself, “Am I scared or uncomfortable?” How do you distinguish between the two? Can you embrace your discomfort? Don’t let your fear let a big blessing pass you by. 

Water Signs – Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio

Death + Knight of Wands + The World

Water signs, many of you have undergone significant changes over the past few months. Think back to where and who you were at the beginning of 2023 and where you are now at the beginning of 2024. Would you even recognize that person? Death’s energy is transformative and it carries the reminder that every season and every cycle will come to an end. Some of you may receive some blessings as a reward for the things that you endured. Give gratitude and buckle up as you start this new leg of your journey. 

Earth Signs – Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Page of Pentacles + Two of Swords + Five of Cups 

February may bring the need for you to make a choice between two paths, earth signs. Yes, whether it be positive or negative, all decisions have consequences. And every path will have its own set of challenges. It’s important to take your time and weigh your options, but don’t get stuck in an indecision loop. Similar to the fire signs, you need to discern between your fear and your anxiety, your fear of what may be lost instead of everything you could gain from your choices. 

Iya Osundara Ogunsina is a Baltimore-based Osun Priestess, intuitive tarot reader, cat lady, and true crime enthusiast. She is committed to encouraging and empowering others to have greater self-awareness through shadow work. Connect with Iya Osundara at www.iyalodescorner.com.

The post February 2024 Tarotscopes appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

They never ever listen.

They only fight and play.

They make a mess around the house 

every single day.

They misbehave and be loud,

but don’t when my mother is around.

It’s difficult to keep up with them

when both have different mindsets.

“No one’s ever perfect”

to myself I always say.

Especially my siblings 

but I love them anyway.

The post Past, Present, and Future: A Poem About My Siblings appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Since 2000, Wide Angle Youth Media has worked with thousands of youth across Baltimore City. Wide Angle Youth Media’s mission is to collaborate with and amplify the voices of Baltimore youth and engage across social divides. The organization accomplishes this through various media arts classes, including graphic design, digital storytelling, and photography. 

“Camera shutter speed, aperture, and ISO can be changed for specific photography goals. Fast shutter speed captures fast motion without blur and small aperture settings create a blurred background,” Wide Angle told us. “By lowering their shutter speed and using colorful lights, students work in teams to draw in space and create an image. This project was inspired by DariusTwin aka Darren Pearson.”

They said the project is intended to teach participants teamwork and communication and encourage playfulness.

Click here to find out more about Wide Angle Youth Media.

Editors’ note: An earlier version of this story included incorrect information about this project. This story has been updated.

The post Photostory: Light Painting appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

In adapting Isabel Wilkerson’s New York Times’ bestseller “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent,” Ava DuVernay has produced perhaps the most ambitious work of her career. But “Origin,” for all its stylistic verve, potent subject matter, and inventive approach, is a picture whose reach far exceeds its grasp. Wilkerson’s book has 496 pages to map the connection between racism in America, Nazi Germany, and the caste system in India. DuVernay’s film only has 145 minutes to do the same, with the added challenge of dramatizing the journey of grief Wilkerson endured through the experience of writing and researching it.

“Caste” is a dense and layered narrative with enough depth and nuance to power a multi-part documentary for streaming platforms, but instead, DuVernay has opted to, as the film’s opening introduction explains, “artistically interpret” Wilkerson’s text. The result is a film that is equal parts haunting tone poem, long-form lecture, harrowing personal tragedy, and, unfortunately, one of the most laughably on-the-nose discussions ever produced about America’s history of inequality. Many moments in the film solemnly encapsulate its difficult lessons into resonant, memorable imagery. But an equal number of moments could most charitably be described as the big-screen version of every white liberal’s social media feed from the summer of 2020.

In 2012, writer Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) was approached by a former editor (Blair Underwood) to pen a piece about Trayvon Martin’s death. In one scene, while Wilkerson listens in her study to the infamous 911 tapes from Martin’s extrajudicial killing, DuVernay stages a dramatic reenactment of his brutal slaying. But Wilkerson chooses not to take the assignment. 

The frustrations and fear Wilkerson feels at the moment hint at a deeper reservoir of thought around the phenomenon of police brutality, but those ideas go untapped as she extends her hiatus to take care of her ailing mother, Ruby (Emily Yancy.) But, once she loses her mother and her husband (Jon Bernthal) in quick succession, wrestling with her connections to both events leads her back down a path of wanting to understand why these things happen. “We call everything racism,” she asks. “Why?” 

Upon being prodded to explore all the open-ended ideas Trayvon Martin’s death brought to the fore, Wilkerson argues that she doesn’t write questions; she writes answers. So, while mourning those closest to her, Wilkerson works through a loose thesis tethering the history of Black subjugation in America to the plight of the Dalit people in India, hoping to draw meaningful conclusions about all the nebulous ills we reliably brush under the rug of race. But severe doubt sets in with her editors, peers, and, eventually, the audience about whether she can thread that narrow needle.

An overwrought dinner table discussion between Wilkerson and her German friend Sabine (Connie Nielsen) turns into a debate about which was worse, slavery or the Holocaust. The back-and-forth closely resembles the worst nesting-doll quote-tweet argument on the subject, but it spurs Wilkerson to find proof that the Nazis stole their entire playbook on how to dehumanize Jews from the American legal system. This smoking gun helps her through the film’s most effective act, laying out the foundation of her book, “The Eight Pillars of Caste,” and allowing the film’s dramatic climax to be a neat summation of the source material it was born from. But, along the road to that destination, DuVernay careens between tones and genre. Some scenes borrow text passages from the book as voice-over narration for dramatic interpretations of historical events. DuVernay centers the love story between August Landmesser (Fitt Winrock), the lone German refusing to do the Nazi salute from the famous 1936 photo, and his Jewish lover, Irma Eckler (Victoria Pedretti.) The relationship acts as a tether to Wilkerson’s own interracial marriage. 

Between those interludes, we’re repeatedly subjected to some of the blandest, most overt exchanges between Wilkerson and others. Perhaps the most egregious is a scene where she bonds with a right-wing plumber (Nick Offerman wearing a MAGA hat) over their shared parental loss. The way these interactions are written and staged feel less like affecting drama and more like deleted scenes from an after-school special. Each of these broad appeals of centrist kumbaya feels designed to counterbalance the film’s more challenging concepts. Still, all they do is muddy an already-too-intricate narrative. 

“Origin” is at its best when it focuses entirely on Wilkerson’s creative process and how it dovetails with her grief. Ellis-Taylor delivers sterling work in a quietly demanding lead role, both as the drama’s central figure and as the narrator of Wilkerson’s gorgeous prose. The film also intermittently shines when DuVernay throws a real Hail Mary and gives in to her urge to abstract all this pain and loss into a formless collage of image and sound bound entirely by emotion. 

There is a critical moment in the film where DuVernay chooses to dramatically cut from a scene where a Jewish prisoner at a concentration camp is being executed to a scene where George Zimmerman is killing Trayvon Martin. The juxtaposition is so affecting because it puts the viewer into Wilkerson’s mind. In the moment, the audience can feel how these disparate tragedies are connected, even if, on reflection, comparing the two seems ill-advised. But the glue stitching DuVernay’s many conflicting approaches together elicits little more than eye-rolling in the end.

“Origin” is a film that thinks it needs to be as blunt and exhaustive as possible to make its points clear and inalienable. “Caste” may be an effective read for anyone actively invested in bettering their understanding of inequality in the world, but “Origin” is a movie. The medium is uniquely disadvantaged as a delivery system for ideological rhetoric. The most cringeworthy and groan-inducing elements of the film seem to exist solely for an imaginary viewer who will likely never bother to watch it, much less ever seriously engage with the ideas it espouses. 

For those hungry for nourishing cinema about thorny topics, the picture might feel infantilizing in its attempts to change hearts and minds. After the nationwide reckoning with these concepts that many Americans had through the pandemic’s early days, anyone who still isn’t convinced of what is just will need some divine intervention, not another proselytizing motion picture from “the Hollywood elite.” 

“Origin” is most affecting when DuVernay gives life to Wilkerson’s internal struggles while writing “Caste.” It’s a shame that much of the runtime abdicates that worthy work to preach to those who have no interest in bearing witness.

“Origin” is currently playing at The Senator.

The post ‘Origin’ is too ambitious for its own good appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Wednesday, Jan. 31

2024 Annual Meet & Greet: The Black Arts District: This event is for anyone interested in The Black Arts District. This is an opportunity to network and explore what the district has to offer. Light refreshments will be served. (Free) 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at New Song Community Learning Center, 1530 Presstman Street. For more information, go to blackartsdistrict.org.

Ayesha Rascoe: “HBCU Made”: NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe discusses a collection of essays she edited about historically Black colleges and universities. (Free) 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Enoch Pratt Central Library, Wheeler Auditorium, 400 Cathedral Street. In-person and virtual. For more information, go to prattlibrary.org or call 410-396-5430.

Thursday, Feb. 1

“Black Woman Genius” Opening day of the exhibition which focuses on Elizabeth Talford Scott as a key figure for Black women in the fiber arts. Her work will be showcased alongside contemporary Black women fiber artists from the Chesapeake area. 10 a.m. at Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt Street. For more information, go to lewismuseum.org.

Safeguarding History, Establishing Memories, and Inspiring Minds: Join local artist Anthony Coates as he celebrates the opening of his show. Founder of Reflections on Human Development, a nonprofit for Artistic Therapy and Community Services, Coates’ work has been displayed in many buildings around Baltimore. 6 p.m., Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street. For more information, go to prattlibrary.org or call 410-396-5430.

Ijeoma Oluo presents “Be a Revolution”: Join Michaela Brown in conversation with Ijeoma Oluo, author of “Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World—and How You Can Too.” 7 p.m. at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, 3128 Greenmount Avenue. For more information, go to redemmas.org or call 410-601-3072.

Sip & Paint Game Night: This event is a night of karaoke, games, sip-n-paint and more. Come out to relax and enjoy yourself. (18+, free entry) 7 p.m. to midnight. at C.Roses Event Center, 4000 Coolidge Avenue. For more information, go to c-rosesevents.com or @croses_eventcenter on Instagram.

Friday, Feb. 2

Ecstatic Dance: Enjoy a space to dance without talking, drinking and the nightclub vibe. This is about getting great exercise, freeing your mind and body, and connecting with yourself and others. With sounds by James Nasty. ($18) 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Luke’s Church on the Avenue, 800 W. 36th Street. For more information or to register, go to churchontheavenuehampden.org

Patti LaBelle: Join the icon known for her powerhouse voice and amazing stage presence as she sings her classic hits. ($65+) 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m., at the Lyric, 140 W. Mount Royal Avenue. For more information, go to lyricbaltimore.com.

BSO Music Presents: Gershwin Rhapsody In Blue: A night of blues and jazz, conductor and pianist Wayne Marshall celebrates the 100th anniversary of “Rhapsody in Blue.” ($15- $70) 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall,1212 Cathedral Street. For more information, go to bsomusic.org or call 410-783-8000. 

Saturday, Feb. 3

Crumbs from the Table Joy: In Everyman’s fifth Lynn Nottage production, 17-year-old Ernestine Crump adjusts to her new life in 1950s Brooklyn after the passing of her mother.  ($40-$70) Through Feb. 28, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Everyman Theatre,  315 W. Fayette Street. For more information, go to everymantheatre.org/event/crumbs.

BAF Groundhog Day Party @ the Pavilion:  An evening of music, dancing, and drinks with Baltimore Architecture Foundation. Dress in your most rad ’80s attire for a chance to win the costume contest. ($75-$100) 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Harborplace Pavilion, 301 Light Street. For more information visit aiabaltimore.org.

Indie Sleaze Night 2: DJs Brandon Carlo and Cullen Enn play all the best 2000s dance floor bangers, while taking pictures that bring you back to the Y2K era. ($12 advance, $15 day of) 9 p.m. at the Ottobar,  2549 N. Howard Street. For more information, go to theottobar.com or call 410-662-0069.

DEEP SUGAR feat. Ultra Naté ‘All Night’ DJ Set: It’s a vibe! Join DJ Ultra Naté at the Deep Sugar Party from start to finish. There will be complimentary cocktails before midnight. (21+, $18) 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. at Club 1722, 1722 N. Charles Street. For more information, go to ra.co/events/1840826.

Sunday, Feb. 4

Sensory Sundays at the B&O Railroad: The B&O Railroad Museum is dedicating first Sundays to Sensory Awareness. The day will include environmental accommodations, activities, and resources for visitors with sensory sensitivities. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, go to borail.org.

Elizabeth Talford Scott Community Celebration: Join for a live rendition of “Floating on a Thread,” the exhibition’s music commission produced and performed by Bashi Rose and Adam Holofcener as we celebrate the art, life, and legacy of Elizabeth Talford Scott. (Free) 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive. For more information, go to artbma.org.

G.R.O.W Beyond Creative Barriers: Join fellow writers, artists, students, thinkers, organizers and leaders for a monthly productivity session. Learn from research-based best practices in a simple format and to gain control of mindless procrastination and the struggle to complete independent tasks. (Free) 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at good neighbor, 3827 Falls Road. For more information, go to growcerygarden.org. 

Sunday Scaries Movie Night: An alternative way to celebrate V-Day with Bmore Horror Club as they screen “My Bloody Valentine.” (Free entry) 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Pariah Brewing Company, 1700 Union Avenue, Suite D. For more information, go to pariahbrewing.com/events/sundayscariesfeb4.

Tuesday, Feb. 6

Michele Norris: “Our Hidden Conversations”: Come out to discuss topics on race and identity in America with Peabody Award–winning journalist Michele Norris through her decade-long work at The Race Card Project. (Free) 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Wheeler Auditorium, 400 Cathedral Street. For more information, go to prattlibrary.org, or call 410-396-5430.

Bright Moments Jam Session: Join Obasi Akoto and members of Greater Baltimore & Washington, D.C. ‘s jazz community in a night surrounded by great company, soul-lifting music, and great food. (Free entry) 7:30 p.m. at Keystone Korner Baltimore, 1350 Lancaster Street.For more information, go to keystonekornerbaltimore.com.

The post Baltimore Arts and Culture Events 1/31/24–2/07/24 appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Across the African diaspora, there are texts—literary and otherwise—sifting through histories and revealing the violent price of girlhood. Released in 2023, Safiya Sinclair’s memoir, “How to Say Babylon,” offers her recollections about coming of age as a girl child in a Rastafarian household. Sinclair shares her own family history alongside the political and religious histories of Jamaica. Between the ongoing domination of the island—by the monied and powerful—and the religious persecution of Rastafarians by the government, we find the story of a woman who learned at a young age that her life, as she wished to live it, came at a cost.

How to Say Babylon was the last book I read in 2023, and its lyricism and candor compelled me. Sinclair opens up her family history, detailing the sexual violence suffered by her elders and the neglect imposed on her mother, and shares the abuse she suffered at school, at home, and in literary spaces. It’s clear that because of her age, Blackness, girlhood, and her family’s commitment to being Rastafari, Sinclair is isolated.

There are few moments where we, the audience—the witnesses—aren’t staring down the realities of colonialism, imperialism, child abuse, or sexual coercion. We are ushered into an intimate story of Black girlhood framed by colonial domination and religious persecution. Sinclair writes, “These were the nation’s downpressed and downtrodden” early in the memoir to make clear that Rastafari people are targets of ongoing discrimination while drawing us deeper into understanding what she, and others, face in Rastafari homes. For those of us who are witnessing these recollections while holding stories of our own survival, this memoir may stir up our own memories of terror. 

Among the recollections of abuse is Sinclair’s complementary experience of self-soothing, discovery, and building a life on her terms. She credits her mother, a community educator who taught children across Jamaica, instilling lessons about literature and media. From a young age, Sinclair studied vocabulary and enjoyed reading about current events from newspapers. Her curiosity quickly turned into mastery as she grew her skills. The memoir explores the evolution of Sinclair’s scholarship as she dutifully cultivated it with her mother’s support and the resources of predominantly white schools. 

Sinclair’s memoir adds to an ever-growing collection of Black writing that shares family histories and coming-of-age stories to help us, a larger community, make sense of our conditions. She joins Bessie Head, Maya Angelou, and Jesmyn Ward in illuminating the truth of Black girlhood while simultaneously acknowledging the violence(s) that shape Black life all around the world. Sinclair, like her predecessors in this tradition of self-recollection, makes sense of her life alongside a thorough assessment of the violent conditions that makes her abuse possible. 

Nature is integral to Sinclair’s retellings. Frequently, she describes foliage and other features of the different landscapes her family calls home throughout the island. Readers familiar with the work of Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker will find similarities in how Sinclair brings her environment into the frame of her storytelling. In many ways, nature and her mother’s compassion are Sinclair’s safe havens for much of the memoir. In one chapter Sinclair writes, “When she wasn’t reading poetry or swimming, she was smoking, walking with yogis who subsisted on sunlight alone, plastering a brown mixture of egg yolk and honey on her head, a concoction to help soak up the sun she was always chasing.” She invites us into her own memories and her mother’s, exploring her mother’s garden and sharing this journey with us. 

When Sinclair describes her relationship with water, we learn she is descended from fishermen. Sinclair understands that she, like her mother and her grandmother, is born along a precious coast—precious in its spiritual significance and precious in its material dividends. Sinclair writes, “Our history was the sea, my mother told me, so I could never be lost here” while clarifying that private resorts and corporations own most of the Jamaican coastline. 

The coast, where Black fishermen once fished and Black people swam, was almost entirely inaccessible to native Jamaicans. Here, the audience contends with how pleasure—vacations, weddings, and luxury—for tourists thrives because of the subjugation of native populations. We are reminded that glamour comes at a cost to those who work the land, steward nature, and die fighting against corporations. The balance Sinclair strikes between personal narrative and her role as a witness of Jamaican history works well throughout the text. Neither perspective suffers for the inclusion of the other. 

Reading the memoir, we get to know the writers who shaped her literary canon as a teenager. In this way, the book offers us intertextuality. We get to read about the life of Sinclair, a writer, while learning about other distinguished women writers along the way. While reflecting on her development as an artist, Sinclair points directly to the works of Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson. From these moments, we learn that Sinclair is an avid reader of women who grapple with their sorrow and the haunting condition of humanity. The link is set between Sinclair and the gothic poets whose work she devours. 

There’s no way to finish this text without contending with the stakes of Black childhood. For most of the text, Sinclair wades through her childhood and the stories of children around her. Even in her rage about her own childhood, Sinclair is still careful to recognize the constraints of her parents’ childhoods that led them to their partnership and their approach to caregiving. When reflecting on her mother’s girlhood she says plainly, “Like many young women born into poverty, the scarcity of her choices made her easy prey.” 

Sinclair’s writing also causes us to reflect on when childhood ends and adulthood begins. As she grows older, she is not saved from the terror of childhood vulnerability and the feeling of powerlessness because the people she loves are still vulnerable to patriarchal violence. Age has not shielded her from heartbreak. Once she reaches adulthood (while some consider this salvation), she struggles to shield her siblings—her younger brother and two younger sisters— from their own suffering. And still, beyond Sinclair’s immediate family, there are moments where she recalls how children around her—neighbors and old classmates, all Black children—disappeared. 
How to Say Babylon is compelling because it does not turn away from the horror of Black childhood. Sinclair strips childhood of the narrative of innocence often thrust upon it and delves deep into strife. Readers searching for evocative nonfiction about Black childhood, Black girlhood, and the history of Rastafarians in Jamaica will be captivated by this memoir. Sinclair is candid about the cost of enduring the terrors of structural violence and the intimate violence that stares children down at home, on the streets, and in schoolhouses constructed in the image of white patriarchal violence.

The post Book Review: “How to Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir” appeared first on Baltimore Beat.