Welcome to our Love and Sex issue.
In these pages, we use storytelling to explore how expansive the ideas of love and sex can be.
Emma Akpan writes about the Abortion Fund of Maryland, which was formerly known as the Baltimore Abortion Fund. Organizers there changed the name to more accurately capture how expansive their work is, especially post-Roe v. Wade.
“Abortion seekers need a place to go and people to talk to for resources without interrogation, without shame, and with care, and AFM provides it,” Akpan writes.
MacKenzie River Foy chronicles what it’s like trying to make a living on The Block by talking to one of the women who works on the infamous stretch of E. Baltimore Street that has been the place to find adult entertainment for decades.
Dee, a 27-year old dancer from East Baltimore, shared some of the lessons she’s learned:
“Have a career, have a goal, write it down on a piece of paper, and cross each and every one off. Think of investing your money in something long term,” she said.
Dominic Griffin writes about slept-on 2023 rom-com “Rye Lane.” The film beckons viewers to fall in love not only with the idea of love, but with a specific place.
“These days, rom-coms tend to be streaming-first ventures, and they all suffer from the same kind of lazy digital cinematography that abstracts backgrounds into interchangeable landscapes of bokeh and little else,” Griffin writes.
However, director Raine Allen-Miller “stages the pair in such a way that they feel like the background, and the larger world around them feels like the real attraction.”
Also in this issue, Grace Hebron writes about legendary local blues singer Ursula Ricks. Known for her unique and soulful voice for decades, Ricks is now facing some health struggles. Hebron’s story encapsulates the blues, love, and the way we all must accept endings as readily as we anticipate beginnings.
“It’s the blues. It’s emotion music, and everybody in the room has emotion, so nobody’s exempt. It’s all inclusive. You can find joy in it. You can let go of your pain in it. You can understand your sorrow in it. You can find peace in it. It’s all there,” Ricks says.
Markele Cullins writes about artist Tom Miller’s work as Black history, queer history, art history, and Baltimore history. Miller will be celebrated later this month with Tom Miller Week.
“To me, Miller is a quintessential Baltimore artist,” writes Cullins. “His use of bright colors, mythical motifs, and inventive techniques feel like something that can only come from an artist from this city. He references arabbers and crab feasts, and is influenced by Dahomey textiles and the sounds of the city.”
Logan Hullinger writes about an exhibition now on display at Baltimore’s City Hall that asks us to imagine what life would be like if we lived in a world without gun violence.
HH Hiaasen’s father, Rob Hiaasen, was one of five Capital Gazette journalists killed in 2018 when a man with a gun burst into their newsroom.
“Hiaasen has turned these wishes and dreams of days painfully cut short into an art exhibit in the South Gallery of Baltimore’s City Hall, which is filled with nearly 3,000 notes that do more than just commemorate those who lost their lives or survived the violence — it asks people to describe that fateful day as if the shooting had never happened,” Hullinger writes.
There’s so much more in this issue, including the crossword, things to do in and around Baltimore, and some very cute photos of Baltimore couples who work together.
Happy Valentine’s Day, and thank you for reading!
