For the first time in 160 years, the people of Baltimore control their own police force. In this issue, journalist Jaisal Noor explores what that means with Ray Kelly, executive director of the Citizens Policing Project.
Kelly said that the move from state control to local control marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Members of the community and city leaders have a lot of work ahead of them as they flesh out just what local control really means. Kelly said he hopes this change means that it’s easier for residents to have more of a voice with respect to police reforms. Now, they won’t have to travel to Annapolis or fight to speak over elected officials from other parts of the state to have their say.
Kelly himself is a testament to the power of community organizing and the voice of the everyday citizen.
“I didn’t come into this with a criminal justice degree — I came as someone from the community. It’s been a long struggle to get our voices recognized,” Kelly said.
In this issue, you’ll also find photos from this year’s Baltimore Crown Awards and a list of the winners. I’m excited to highlight this event. These awards were organized by Chin-Yer Wright, and are powered mostly through her will to do it and her love for the city. Among those honored were longtime Baltimore DJ Porkchop, bookstore Urban Reads, and Hip Hop historian and professor Wendel Patrick.
Wright’s event highlights Black Baltimore in a way that you won’t find in too many other places, and that is what makes it so valuable.
“I started it because I love Baltimore,” she told us. “It’s a mecca full of genius, talent, love, authenticity, and unity. I noticed that when I travel outside of Baltimore, the city isn’t seen accurately.”
Kelly and Wright prove that there is power and progress in community. Their work shows us change is always possible.
Film critic Dominic Griffin reviews “Personal Problems,” a film from the ’80s that offers us a peek at the reality TV that we could have gotten.
“’Personal Problems’ gave form to a new paradigm that allowed for deeper resonance than its more scripted beginnings through necessity. Gunn and his team arrived at this aesthetic and this approach due to the financial realities of their production,” Griffin wrote. “Not dissimilarly, the dawn of reality TV was reliant on studios wanting cheaper programming than the increasingly pricy prospect of scripted shows. But in both cases, the results appealed to the nosy neighbor in all of us.”
Finally, Iya Osundara has your tarotscope reading for the month of February and we have a poem from Writers from Baltimore Schools on the back of this newspaper.
Thank you for reading, and welcome to 2025!