Table of contents
What’s a Beat Box?
Beat Boxes look like this, and we currently have eleven locations throughout the city. They are a home for our bi-weekly newspaper and also have a community exchange built-in.
Where are they exactly?
- Open Works – 1400 Greenmount Ave 21202
- Lexington Market – 400 W. Lexington Street 21201
- Joe Squared – 33 W North Ave 21201
- ARCH Social Club – 2426 Pennsylvania Avenue 21217
- Creative Alliance – 3134 Eastern Avenue 21224
- R House – 301 W. 29th Street 21211
- Charles Village Pub – 3107 St Paul St 21218
- Avenue Market – 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue 21217
- Dovecote Cafe – 2501 Madison Avenue 21217
- The Real News Network (Monday-Friday 10-6) – 231 Holliday Street 21202
- Mt Royal Tavern – 1204 W Mt Royal Ave 21217
It’s not just a box – it’s a community exchange!
We’re hoping our community helps us by providing items that can help those in need throughout Baltimore. Think you can help? Contact hello@baltimorebeat.com – we can use our distribution team to help distribute items when we drop off our papers every other week.
Who built them?
We partnered with Open Works of Baltimore to help us build the prototype, improve our second version, and we are now starting to produce them in bulk. As funds allow and donations come in, we’ll continue to distribute these throughout the city to those that want to house one.
What’s Open Works?
Open Works is a non-profit makerspace with the mission to make tools, technology, and the knowledge to use them accessible to all. You can find tools, manufacturing equipment, classes, workshops, and a thriving community of entrepreneurs, hobbyists, makers, artists, and DIYers. Open Works offers programs for ages eight and up, so they can help you make just about anything!
Do you want to house one?
We’re collecting names for those interested in providing a home for a Beat Box. We can’t buy more just yet, but we’re hoping to find donors willing to help us get these throughout Baltimore City. Please visit this page if you are interested!
Do you want to sponsor one?
Right now, it takes approximately $1300 to handle the production and handling of a Beat Box. If you’re willing to sponsor a box, we’d love to put your name on the box with a plate that’s placed on the box with your choice of customization! Contact hello@baltimorebeat.com if you’re interested! Want to add a sticker to your sponsored box? Take a look here for placements.
Do we have a more press release-y version of this? Sure!
Baltimore Beat is making its news and content even more accessible. We are rolling out distribution boxes that were custom-built with the help of OpenWorks. Our boxes are unique in providing a “take what you need, leave what you can” storage space on top of each box.
The boxes will be placed in various communities throughout the city in ten locations. The idea was brought to life through a collaboration with Open Works, a local nonprofit organization that empowers Baltimoreans to create, learn, and work through shared access to tools, technology, and education.
Baltimore Beat has been working to make its reporting and news more accessible to those with limited internet access or who are part of underrepresented communities. These boxes allow the publication to reach a wider audience and serve its mission of honoring the tradition of the Black Press and alt-weekly journalism. The boxes are a testament to the paper’s commitment to the city and its people and the importance of equitable access to news and information.
Baltimore Beat’s distribution team can work with other nonprofits that provide supplies to help fill these boxes on a bi-weekly basis. Baltimore Beat has also launched a paid distribution service throughout the city for those looking to distribute their materials. With a ten-person bi-weekly distribution team led by Eze Jackson, we’re now able to service the city with the same service that distributes Baltimore Beat. This paid distribution service will help Baltimore Beat sustainably deliver the paper edition of Baltimore Beat while also providing a service that allows those looking to distribute their materials.
Baltimore Beat provides a much-needed outlet for stories that often go untold in a city that is often overlooked. The boxes are an example of the power of collaboration and the potential of what nonprofits can do in Baltimore. The boxes are a representation of the possibility of the city and the power of its people. We plan to work alongside other nonprofit organizations to fill these boxes continually. As additional funding opportunities arise, we’ll continue building and distributing more.