In this issue, Art and Culture Editor Teri Henderson sat down with Baltimore DJ Karizma, who is on our cover, to talk about his journey to music by way of the church.
Karizma is known for his work spinning here in Baltimore and around the globe. He just began a residency at Darkroom, an underground dance music club.
He told Henderson that he always had a connection to the church.
“But music was the draw for me. Not so much the religious part. The music was the draw,” he said.
Together, he and Henderson weave a story about how both music and religion can be healing and transcendent.
The idea of coming together to accomplish a common goal isn’t new, but in the last few years, we’ve seen a surge in working people who have sought protection in the power of numbers. In this issue, journalist Jaisal Noor writes about the fight in Annapolis right now to grant some people who work at state universities — like graduate students and instructors — the right to collectively bargain.
“Even though workers in Maryland generally enjoy strong protections, faculty and graduate students at the state’s universities and colleges cannot form a union. A 2001 law allowed university staff to unionize but excluded instructors. In 2021, the legislature overrode then-Governor Larry Hogan’s veto to grant collective bargaining to instructors at community colleges, several of whom have formed unions in 2023.,” Noor writes in his piece about the push.
Advocates say giving these workers the power of collective bargaining is giving them the power to fight for what they need to do their jobs fairly and effectively.
“I’ve had experiences with the power dynamics that happen with supervisors on campus. And I believe that if I would have had union representation, if I would have had a union to back me up to file official grievances, to get support from my fellow workers, my experience as a graduate worker would have been a lot different,” Baltimore resident and community organizer Lenora Knowles said at a rally held earlier this month.
Dominic Griffin writes about “A Thousand and One.” The film stars Teyana Taylor as a young mother who wants better for herself and her son. Griffin says the film brilliantly captures the desires so many have for themselves juxtaposed against the institutions that can never really help or save us.
“When she’s asked why she has no family, she doesn’t have to say more than “I lost them” for us to know it was to the crack epidemic,” Griffin writes about Taylor’s character.
“After trying to convince Lucky to be a father to Terry, there’s a subtlety to Taylor’s face that shows us the profound joy she feels in building something for the future.”
Be sure to also check out our poem. This time it’s from Writers in Baltimore participant Jeremy Ramirez.
Thank you, as always, for reading.