BMAG: D, can you go first and talk about starting out as a writer and the challenges coming from outside the traditional white publishing networks? Did you have a mentor?
D. WATKINS: There weren’t people, writers in Baltimore, with whom I could connect, or directly learn from, until after I was already in it. You think about that because maybe your career could’ve started five years earlier if you knew somebody. In our industry, more people get published because of who they know, rather than their straight work. You know someone, boom. You don’t, you can send the best s--- out to magazines for years and it will just sit at the bottom of a stack.
DEVIN ALLEN: That’s how it was for me. I’d shoot stuff, shoot protests, send it out for free, just ask for a credit, and not even get a reply to an email. I did get a reply once from the City Paper, but nothing from The Sun. Not until I got the cover of Time, and then they wanted to interview me [for my Reginald F. Lewis Museum show]. At that point, I didn’t want anything to do with them, but the museum wanted me to do the interview. I did it, but not until they apologized.
KONDWANI FIDEL: After I graduated [from Virginia State University] in 2015, I traveled around the city doing spoken word and got a good response. I dropped this poem called “The Baltimore Bullet Train” with a video and it got like 20,000 views on YouTube. Then, I finished my first collection of poetry and my first book, and teachers started asking me to come to their classes. Everything grew from there. I teach now, perform, do workshops.
BMAG: You each spend a lot of time in public schools, making hundreds of visits. What do you hope to accomplish?
Denne historien er fra Game Changers-utgaven av Baltimore magazine.
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Denne historien er fra Game Changers-utgaven av Baltimore magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Man With a Plan
The eternal optimism of Thibault Manekin.
SHOWER POWER
Locals let rain gardens soak up the storm.
THE SOFA QUEEN
Stuffed & Tufted’s Samantha Kuczynski relishes being the new face of upholstery.
The Starting Gate
At long last, plans are underway for a new “Home of the Preakness.”
CLEANING UP CITY HALL
Baltimore is the second most corrupt federal jurisdiction in the country. Can a city with our history be reformed?
THE HOMECOMING
For one family, it was time to start living in their house, not just existing there.
SUGAR RUSH
Baltimore gets a fresh batch of home-grown bakeries——and the line forms here.
GAMECHANGER SANDRA GIBSON
Executive Director, SNF Parkway Theatre & Maryland Film Festival
FROM THE GROUND UP
A new build gives a couple a house that finally feels like them.
AFTER GLOW
KEY HIGHWAY