“Every human being deserves dignity”: Baltimore Activists Fight Against Inhumane ICE Detentions

Detainees at the Baltimore Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office are reportedly being held for a week or longer in an office building never designed for long-term detention, according to immigration attorneys who have spoken with former detainees and their families.

As the number of immigrants being detained has skyrocketed due to the Trump administration’s push for mass arrests, facilities around the country are faced with overcrowding and inhumane conditions. In Baltimore, detainees have been forced to sleep on the floor, denied access to showers, and refused critical medical care, according to immigration advocacy organizations CASA and Amica Center for Immigrants Rights. 

“People are being thrown into cages for prolonged periods and denied basic necessities, including medical care,” Ama S. Frimpong, CASA’s legal director, told Baltimore Beat. “We are hearing from families who say their loved ones were held incommunicado, without access to medication, and forced to sleep on the floor in overcrowded conditions.”

Read more of our reporting online at: baltimorebeat.com/every-human-being-deserves-dignity-baltimore-activists-fight-against-inhumane-ice-detentions/

New York Senator Senator Chuck Schumer Cancels on Baltimore

Just a few days after his controversial decision to vote with Republicans on their budget bill, Chuck Schumer pulled out of a planned visit to the Enoch Pratt Free Library on March 17, where he was to kick off his book tour. 

“Schumer’s decision has been widely criticized as a strategic blunder, with some House Democrats reportedly supporting a primary challenge against him and some senators questioning whether he should remain in leadership,” we reported.

“Before the vote, House Democrats urged Schumer to vote against the bill, writing that the ‘American people sent Democrats to Congress to fight against Republican dysfunction and chaos’ and that the party should not be ‘capitulating to their obstruction.’”

Activists from the Baltimore chapter of the organization Jewish Voice for Peace still held a protest and town hall as originally planned. 

Read more of our reporting online at: baltimorebeat.com/u-s-senator-schumers-baltimore-book-talk-indefinitely-postponed-after-planned-protests/

“Hearing Things” on Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals 

Ahead of the April 4 release of Baltimore producer-rapper duo Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals’s third album, “A City Drowned In God’s Black Tears,” the two got a write-up from worker-owned music and culture platform Hearing Things.

“They’re known for Ennals’s shockingly direct lyrics, which read more like unfiltered and passionate thoughts on everything from racism and overcoming mental illness to rape culture and politics,” writes journalist Dylan Green. “It also helps that Ennals is one of just a handful of modern rappers willing to take a public stand against Israel’s war on Gaza and Palestinians without a shred of cowardice.”

In the piece, the two discuss how they found each other, what they’ve been up to since the 2022 release of “King Cobra,” and their battles with post-tour comedown.

“There’s power and catharsis in naming your demons,” Green writes about the upcoming album. “For all the blood and sweat that went into its creation, God’s Black Tears put love on full display. It tackles calamities and setbacks both personal and grand; from the constant newsfeed of atrocities in Gaza to the Trump administration’s dismantling of marginalized Americans’ rights to eviction notices, mass layoffs, and life-altering illnesses.”

“Malcolm Peacock: a signal, a sprout” opens at Baltimore Museum of Art

“Malcolm Peacock: a signal, a sprout” just opened at the Baltimore Museum of Art as part of their “Turn Again to the Earth” initiative. Peacock is an artist, long-distance runner, and Studio Museum of Harlem resident, based in New York. However, he grew up in Baltimore. “A signal, a sprout” is Peacock’s first solo museum show. It opened on March 19 and will be on view through August 2025. 

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a monumental, eight-foot-tall tree-like sculpture inspired by the redwood forests of the Pacific Northwest. What makes this piece so compelling is its construction: it’s covered in thousands of strands of hand-braided synthetic hair, a process that speaks to both endurance (in running and hair braiding) and care. 

This is actually the second time the artist has shown his work at the BMA. His first time was in 2003 when he was a student at Summit Park Elementary School. A watercolor painting he made was shown as part of “Art is for Everyone,” an annual Baltimore City Public Schools student exhibition.

Unveiling of Zoë Charlton’s “Third Watch” Installation

Zoë Charlton’s “Third Watch,” a multimedia art installation, will illuminate North Avenue beginning March 28 at its public unveiling at North Avenue Market. This installation launches “Inviting Light,” a year-long public art initiative in Baltimore’s Station North Arts District, commissioned by Bloomberg Philanthropies and facilitated by Central Baltimore Partnership. 

The event, hosted by Currency Studio, will feature remarks from Zoë Charlton, artist Derrick Adams, and curator and community coordinator José Ruiz. Attendees can also experience Ada Pinkston’s durational performance, “More than Four Women for Four Hours,” with Black women performers including Ada Pinkston, Noelle Tolbert, Amorous Ebony, Sheila Gaskins, and Tracey Beale (with Konjur Collective) exploring themes of confinement, kinship, and healing. 

Additional programming will be provided by Dreamseeds, a socially engaged artist project focused on creating transformative space for visionary and more just futures, Baltimore Youth Arts, and more! This event is free and open to all. It will be held this Friday, March 28, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at North Avenue Market, 30 W. North Avenue.