This issue comes out just a few days before Election Day. As such, we used this issue to think about Black movement and Black power. 

Our Arts and Culture Editor, Teri Henderson, talked to the Baltimore Museum of Art’s curator and department head of contemporary art Jessica Bell Brown. Along with Ryan N. Dennis, chief curator and artistic director of the Center for Art and Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art, Brown put together the recently unveiled A Movement In Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration, now on display at the BMA. Henderson and Brown talk about what it meant to put together such a show and what it says about the Black experience right now.

“For eons our ancestors have moved and migrated, involuntarily and voluntarily. Each movement, in each direction, extended legacies that Black folks embody and live out every day,” Henderson writes.

You’ll also find a lot of election-related content in these pages. Deputy News Editor J. Brian Charles wrote about how Wes Moore made the jump from nonprofit CEO to Democratic nominee for Maryland governor. In his piece, he gives us a peek behind the scenes, revealing a bit more about how potential political kings are made. I talked to Ashley Daniels of Black Girls Vote, about the ways that the organization is trying to help Black women use their power. 

“How are we, like, creating spaces or spheres for [Black women] to run for office? Don’t just vote for the people in the seat at the table, you need to go get a seat at the table as well. So that’s our, that’s our focus is, you know, just encouraging Black women,” she told me.

We have also put together a roundup of some important issues and candidates on the ballot.

And, as usual, you’ll find important information from Baltimore Courtwatch and a review of “Halloween Ends” by Dominic Griffin. Spoiler alert: he says it’s not that bad. 

Lisa Snowden is Editor-in-Chief and cofounder of Baltimore Beat. Previously, she was an editor at Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore Sun, and The Real News Network. Her work has also appeared in Essence,...