Maryland

Baltimore Media Create A False Impression That Youth Are Responsible For A Lot Of Very Dangerous Crime

January 9, 2025 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Educate! Baltimore, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Maryland, Media, Propaganda, Youth imprisonment

Some listeners may know the Sentencing Project for their work calling out racial disparities in sentencing associated with crack versus powder cocaine, and mandatory minimums. A recent project involves looking into another factor shaping public understanding and public policy around criminal justice—the news media. In this case, the focus is young people. “The Real Cost of ‘Bad News’: How Misinformation Is Undermining Youth Justice Policy in Baltimore” has just been released. We’re joined now by the report’s author. Richard Mendel is senior research fellow for youth justice at the Sentencing Project. He joins us now by phone from Prague.

IKEA Workers Vote To Extend Strike Into The New Year

January 6, 2025 Nick Barrickman, World Socialist Web Site. Resist! Ikea, Maryland, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Perryville, Maryland - On December 28, 320 unionized workers at the Perryville IKEA distribution center in northern Maryland voted to remain on strike into the new year after voting down a tentative agreement offered to them by the company and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union. The distribution workers have been on strike since mid-November, citing seniority treatment and pay which is below the cost of living. “Seniority is the most important thing here,” said striking worker Lisa Mengel in a video statement released by More Perfect Union.

In Baltimore, Urban Farming Isn’t Just About Growing Food

January 3, 2025 Jennifer Goold, Next City. Create! Baltimore, Maryland, Racism, Urban Agriculture, Urban Farming

Urban farming is often heralded as a practical solution to food deserts, providing fresh produce to communities where unjust urban planning and policy have limited access to nutritious options. But urban farms can also sow seeds that grow far beyond the garden beds. In Baltimore’s Curtis Bay neighborhood, Filbert Street Garden is showing the power of community-led transformation. Once an overgrown lot, it has evolved into a vibrant community hub, thanks to the dedication of Black farmers like Brittany Coverdale, whose passion for racial and environmental justice led her to the garden coordinator role at Filbert Street Garden.

Protests Highlight Maryland’s Ties To Israeli Tech And Defense Systems

December 20, 2024 Kaela Roeder, Technically. Resist! BDS Movement, Israel, Maryland, Weapons Maker

More than a year after the Oct. 7 attacks that spurred Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, some Maryland residents have continued protesting Israel’s conduct in the conflict. Like others around the world demonstrating in solidarity against Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories and the tens of thousands killed, these protestors have illuminated the local dimensions of this international issue. Much of their attention has fallen on an organization using public and private resources to facilitate economic exchange with Israel — including with companies developing tech for its military actions.

College Park MOM’s Workers Reject Effort To Oust Union

November 20, 2024 UFCW Local 400. Resist! Grocery Workers, Maryland, union busting, Unions, Worker Rights

College Park, MD - United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union announced workers at the MOM’s Organic Market in College Park, Md. have resoundingly voted down an effort to decertify the union at the store. The attempt to oust the union was backed by the National Right to Work Committee, an anti-union organization based in Northern Virginia. Workers resoundingly rejected the effort and voted 22–9 in favor of remaining unionized with UFCW Local 400. “We know MOM’s can be a better place to work and the best way to make that happen is to stand together and collectively demand the change we need.

Baltimore Is Setting A National Standard For Diversifying Its Economy

November 8, 2024 Ilana Preuss, Next City. Create! Baltimore, Local Economy, Manufacturing, Maryland, Worker Rights and Jobs

One of the crucial economic lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic is the importance of diversifying local economies, even in America’s largest cities. New York City continues to struggle with an economy too heavily reliant on tourists and commuters; Las Vegas saw its entertainment industry shut down when out-of-state visitors stopped traveling; vacant storefronts are prominently visible in major business districts and on main streets nationwide. Diversifying often implies attracting new industries by luring them from elsewhere – often a zero-sum game, if the industries are simply shifting locations within the United States.

Apology Demanded: County Executive Bars Civil Rights Hero From Meeting

November 7, 2024 the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, Popular Resistance. Resist! African Cemetery, Civil Rights, Desecration, Maryland, Repression

On Thursday October 31, 2024, Paul Pumphrey, a highly respected community elder and organizer was refused permission to attend a meeting on racial justice and later escorted out of the Executive floor by orders of Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “Mr. Pumphrey is a giant among civil rights leaders in Montgomery County,” said Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, President of BACC. “This is unacceptable and the community demands an independent investigation and a public apology. Ironically, this behavior by Mr Elrich represents a continuation of Jim Crow policies.

Maryland Supreme Court Decision Favors The Bethesda African Cemetery

September 27, 2024 Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and Ari Gutman, Black Agenda Report. Strategize! African Cemetery, Desecration, Maryland, Racism, Supreme Court

On Friday, August 30, the Supreme Court of Maryland issued its decision in the case of Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition v. Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County. The case, which began in the Circuit Court of Maryland in 2021, deals with the issue of whether or not the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC), a government agency responsible for building, developing, financing, owning, and managing low and moderate-income housing, could legally sell an African Cemetery and the remains of African people without permission from descendants or the court. For decades, Montgomery County, the HOC and the State of Maryland have covered-up the desecration of Moses African Cemetery and the state-sponsored violent destruction of an African “Maroon” community in collusion with white supremacist groups, such as the ‘white caps’ and the KKK.

BACC Declares Victory At The Supreme Court Of Maryland

September 4, 2024 Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Popular Resistance. Resist! African Cemetery, Maryland, Racism, Supreme Court, Victory

On Friday August 30, the Supreme Court of Maryland issued its decision in the case of Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition v. Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County. In its finding, the court acknowledges what BACC has been asserting for years: Moses African Cemetery “was a historic Black burial place that contains interments of many individuals, including formerly enslaved persons and their families” and “it appears likely that human remains are still interred in the land today, which is currently part of a property known as the Westwood Tower Apartments.” In light of the Maryland Supreme Court decision, we call on all elected officials to demand an immediate cessation of all desecration and erasure of Black History at the Westwood Towers site.

Baltimore Lawsuit Alleges Shale Investments Fueled Price Fixing Scheme

August 27, 2024 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. Resist! Baltimore, BlackRock, Drilling, Energy, Maryland, Oil and Gas, Shale

The city of Baltimore filed a class action lawsuit on Saturday, alleging that major U.S. shale drillers colluded to fix oil prices, the latest in a series of lawsuits filed this year claiming that U.S. oil producers conspired with each other and with OPEC to drive oil prices up. The new lawsuit, filed by the mayor of Baltimore and its city council, is notable in part because it alleges Wall Street investment firms played a role by pressuring shale drillers to coordinate their output to prevent fueling price wars with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers abroad. Wall Street companies were among the largest investors in multiple competing shale producers at the same time — and pushed them all to engage in “capital discipline,” the lawsuit alleges.

New Contract Equalizes Protections Across University Of Maryland

August 5, 2024 Bri Hatch, WYPR. Organize! Education, Maryland, Unions, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

Workers at nine of 12 schools in the University System of Maryland are now protected under the first-ever system-wide union contract. The new agreement raises wages, establishes health and safety protections, and guarantees permanent salaried positions for contractual employees after two years of service. The changes affect around 5,700 employees, from Frostburg to the Eastern Shore. Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union and university leaders gathered at a signing ceremony Friday to mark the official start of the standardized protections.

First US Unionized Apple Retail Store Workers Reach Historic Tentative Agreement With Tech Giant

July 29, 2024 IAMAW. Organize! Apple, Maryland, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Towson, MD – The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ (IAM) Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) has reached a tentative agreement with Apple that improves work-life balance, raises pay and helps protect job security. Workers at the Towson, Md., Apple retail store, the first in the country to unionize, will vote on the tentative agreement on Aug. 6. “From the beginning, IAM CORE’s mission has been to improve Apple for our employees, customers and communities,” said the IAM CORE Negotiating Committee. “By reaching a tentative agreement with Apple, we are giving our members a voice in their futures and a strong first step toward further gains.

A Maryland House Race Shows How Not To Cover AIPAC

June 12, 2024 Pete Tucker, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Educate! AIPAC, Elections, Israel, Maryland, Money in Politics

The biggest outside spender in the 2022 Democratic primaries was an unlikely group: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This year, AIPAC—a group backed by Republican mega-donors that is devoted to maintaining strong US support for the far-right government of Israel—is going even bigger, aiming to spend a cool $100 million via its super PAC, the United Democracy Project. If the Koch brothers quietly spent millions to sway Democratic primaries, their chosen candidates would be tarred. Same goes for Big Oil, the NRA and other right-wing special interests. But AIPAC is an exception to this rule.

Workers At A Maryland Apple Store Authorize Strike

May 13, 2024 Anthony Ha, TechCrunch. Organize! Apple, Maryland, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

It’s been a busy weekend for union organizing efforts at U.S. Apple stores, with the union at one store voting to authorize a strike, while workers at another store voted against forming a union. Back in 2022, workers in Towson, Maryland, became the first formally recognized union at an Apple retail store. That union, which is part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, voted Saturday to authorize a strike. The date of this potential strike has yet to be determined. “This vote today is the first step in demonstrating our solidarity and sends a clear message to Apple,” said the IAM CORE Negotiating Committee in a statement.

Baltimore’s New $1 Billion Jail Will Be Most Expensive State-Funded Project

March 27, 2024 Ben Conarck and Pamela Wood, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Baltimore, Budget, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Maryland, Mass Incarceration

Nearly nine years after former Gov. Larry Hogan shuttered the old Baltimore City Detention Center, a new centerpiece facility for the city’s pretrial jail population is poised to rise from its ashes. But it’s going to cost you. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which has run the city’s jail system for decades, is pushing ahead with ambitious plans for the Baltimore Therapeutic Treatment Center — a sort of hybrid jail, hospital and mental health and substance use treatment facility for people facing criminal charges.

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