Two years ago I canceled my subscription to the Baltimore Sun and used that money to make a regular donation to Baltimore Beat. A reminder: You don’t have to pay money to read Baltimore Beat because there’s no paywall. But, of course, they need money to make it all happen.
Monday Night Monopoly Games, Village Green/Town², January 16, 2024
Baltimore Beat is a Black-led, Black-controlled nonprofit newspaper and media outlet. Our mission is to honor the tradition of the Black press and the spirit of alt-weekly journalism with reporting that focuses on community, questions power structures, and prioritizes thoughtful engagement with our readers.
We aim to serve all of Baltimore City, including those with limited internet access and those who are a part of underrepresented communities.
Our organization aspires toward a more equitable, accountable, and rigorous future for journalism that fully represents the stories of all our neighbors. - - Baltimore Beat
I went on to say:
Under the leadership of Editor in Chief Lisa Snowden, the Beat is already doing things no other Baltimore news organization is doing: amplifying independent voices and reaching Baltimoreans who have been traditionally ignored by local media outlets. That mission is even more crucial now with the Sun’s new ownership.
Go read the most recent issue of the Beat. It’s free. Then think about a Baltimore where those voices are drowned out or forgotten.
Believing in a healthy democracy means supporting a free and independent press. If one player owns most of the marbles, how free can it be?
I re-read that this morning as I contemplated MLK Day and my deep discontent with our nation’s refusal to acknowledge the truth of our history and our responsibility to do better. And something struck me.
All this time I have been committed to support Baltimore Beat in my own small way, and I have shared my enthusiasm for their mission. I write about it here. I share their posts on social media. I absolutely believe in independent Black journalism in Baltimore.
And - - much to my shame - - I often forget to read it. It comes right to my email inbox and I just…forget to read it. I could blame this on my adhd along with my hyper focus on local news but it’s more than that. I’ve slipped into thinking that Baltimore Beat is this cause I believe in, rather like sending money to people somewhere else because it’s a good thing to do.
It’s something that’s happening “over there.” I give because Baltimore Beat is valuable to people “over there” and I want them to have that.
Ouch. It embarrasses me to realize this. That’s way more like charity than community care.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to give money because you believe something should be able to exist, even flourish. And it’s not wrong to give money to causes that were not designed to directly benefit you.
But I forgot the bit where reading the work provides me with an opportunity to change my brain.
Baltimore Beat is a Black-led, Black-controlled nonprofit newspaper and media outlet. Our mission is to honor the tradition of the Black press and the spirit of alt-weekly journalism with reporting that focuses on community, questions power structures, and prioritizes thoughtful engagement with our readers.
Our country is awash in journalism which is controlled by large corporations and news which is predigested by white people for consumption by white people. The last several years have been one disaster after another as those outlets have failed to uphold their responsibility to the public. It is no coincidence that these years have been marked by pushing more and more non-white voices out of “the news business.”
Reading the Baltimore Beat is a gift to me if I choose to engage. These are the voices I won’t hear anywhere else. These are perspectives informed by experiences I will never have. I could learn something.
In 2017 when I wrote the County Council in support of CB-9 (Sanctuary County) I shared the following:
Dr. King assured us that the arc of moral universe bends toward justice, but only if we stand up and speak out for what is right. (Rep. Mark Takano)
Someone added:
That arc doesn't bend itself.
Hearing other voices and processing other points of view and making that just a normal part of what you do every month of the year is not magic nor will anyone give you a prize for it. But it does a lot more to bend that arc because we I need to be willing to bend my brain: my thoughts, my assumptions, my perspectives on good and bad, right and wrong.
I can do better. Join me?
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