In this issue, Grace Hebron writes about a project at the Baltimore Museum of Industry that seeks to record the stories of the people most affected by last year’s Key Bridge collapse.
The collapse, which happened in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024, claimed the lives of six construction workers: Miguel Ángel Luna González, Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, José Mynor López, Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, and Carlos Daniel Hernández.
“They were living and working what is, in many ways, a typical experience for immigrants who come in and do that middle-of-the night work that nobody else wants to do. We wanted to honor that,” BMI’s executive director Anita Kassof told Hebron.
There is so much hate being levied at immigrants right now, as the Trump administration looks to demonize those who come to this country looking to create lives for themselves. Even as I write this, ICE officers are disappearing people from their homes, often with no legal justification to do so. So, it feels necessary right now to honor the lives of these men who wanted the same things most other people do: to take care of their families, to create lives for themselves.
Also in this issue, Dominic Griffin writes about “Luther: Never Too Much,” an intimate documentary about legendary singer Luther Vandross.
It’s a beautiful film, Griffin writes, but not without some bittersweetness. Despite his great talent and famous collaborators, Vandross never quite got the love life he deserved.
“In an interview, Luther’s niece says that her uncle had an obligation on this Earth and fulfilled it, as if performing a cosmic task you never asked for should be, in itself, a great triumph,” Griffin writes. “But now that I know more about him than ever before, I find it so hard to listen to songs I once adored and not feel a deep sense of frustration that someone could be such a boundless fountain of love for others and still find themselves dying of thirst.”
Make sure to also read the latest installment of Best Beats, a roundup of our favorite local music. In this issue, Eze Jackson highlights sounds from DJAyyMello, Mighty Mark, Nina Gala, and Eyas.
Sports analyst Reeta Hubbard gets us ready for the 2025 baseball season, Iya Osundara Ogunsina has your April tarotscopes, and we have images from Wide Angle Youth Media and a poem from Isabella Akilo, a participant in the group Writers in Baltimore Schools.
It’s a really packed issue, and we hope you enjoy it.