Not only is Baltimore predominantly Black, it is also, correspondingly, a longtime hub for radical politics and organizing in Maryland and the wider (speaking from the Deep South) North.
Baltimore had the largest free Black population before the Civil War, being a political hub for abolitionists and their cross-Dixon line resistance. One of my favorite stories from this period is that of Maryland’s own abolition: during the Civil War, Maryland fought for the Union, and yet maintained slavery. After the General Strike of Enslaved Persons which won the war for the North, Maryland held an open, state-wide vote on whether to maintain slavery. It looked like slavery would win and be maintained until the absentee ballots of Maryland’s soldiers, fighting shoulder to shoulder with formerly enslaved black persons in the South, arrived. They, to a man, voted to abolish slavery, a core example of how being in struggle as one builds consciousness even across the color line.
Baltimore also has a rich, rich history of organized labor, and especially black labor. Dockworkers, longshoremen, industrial workers, and more. Baltimore’s fighting labor politics, begun with abolition, continued well into the late 19th and 20th centuries, even into today.
In 2015 Baltimore had an uprising against racism following the racist murder of Freddie Gray by police. It was also a massive point of organizing for the 2020 uprisings against racism and the BLM movement.
Baltimore is also one of the leading cities for the grassroots, community led violence interruptors program, which empowers disenfranchised (especially black) working communities to take charge of their own violence prevention, rather than call on the police. It has worked tremendously, and is a model for more widespread programs, even as their funding is cut.
Baltimore is a kickass city, the northernmost city of the Black Belt, and a real hub of longtime radical politic. Shoutout my sisters, siblings, and brothers in Bmore.
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