Archive

Last night University of Baltimore professor Elizabeth Nix talked to a packed house at the Enoch Pratt Free Library about the history of segregation in Baltimore as part of OSI-Baltimore’s Talking About Race series. She touched on the early 1800s, when Baltimore had the largest free African-American population in the U.S. and was not yet […]

By Diana Morris With the number of Baltimore City homicides spiking to 274 so far this year, it is not a second too soon to change our approach to public safety in Baltimore. That’s why it was great news that newly appointed police commissioner Kevin Davis was among 130 national law enforcement leaders who made […]

There’s a great story in this week’s City Paper about how the debate renaissance among Baltimore city students has helped prepare a new generation of activist leaders at a time when Baltimore needs them most. One of the key groups described in the story is the Baltimore Urban Debate League (BUDL), which, as BUDL’s website […]

Yesterday, SAFE Center, a rec center devoted to out of school time learning for young people in Franklin Square, officially opened its doors. Van Brooks, a current OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow, founded SAFE—Safe Alternative Foundation for Education—to use programmatic community outreach to convey the importance of an education to young people in West Baltimore. The center, created […]

Last week, OSI-Baltimore and the Enoch Pratt Free Library hosted the latest in our Talking About Race series, this one about the rights of domestic workers and day laborers. It was a great conversation, including Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, and moderator Rachel Micah-Jones, director […]

Today at 4pm, City Bloc—a group of students from Baltimore City College and other schools that is affiliated with Baltimore Bloc and Baltimore United for Change—will hold a press conference at City Hall in advance of a scheduled city council hearing to confirm the nomination of Interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis as permanent commissioner. According to […]

Last week, the Baltimore Sun wrote about the growing network of Baltimore City Community Schools. OSI-Baltimore grantee The Family League, acts as the operating manager for the City’s core of 52 Community Schools, who partner with dozens of organizations to provide enhanced and extended education opportunities, health and social services, extracurricular activities, nightly supper and food pantries, as […]

Karen Webber, director of OSI-Baltimore’s education and youth development program, appeared Monday on WYPR’s Midday with Sheilah Kast to talk about chronic absenteeism in city schools. Webber, a former teacher and school principal, recently wrote  an essay called “The Importance of Student Attendance” on OSI-Baltimore’s website. Webber emphasized the importance of a positive school climate in encouraging […]

During last week’s public safety forum, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake tweeted about police commissioner Kevin Davis’s news that in the past week, Baltimore police “saved 2 would-be overdose deaths w/ Naloxone treatments.” These interventions were possible thanks to OSI-funded police training with naloxone in recent months. OSI-Baltimore program associate Rachel Abdullahi explained OSI’s support for naloxone as a crucial […]