• Talking About Race: What is Progress? Reflections One Year Later

    BALTIMORE – Open Society Institute-Baltimore, Good News Baltimore, and the Walters Art Museum have collaborated to present an important conversation to mark the one-year anniversary of the Baltimore Uprising, called “What is Progress? Reflections One Year Later.” The event, at 7pm on April 21, is part of OSI-Baltimore’s “Talking About Race” series and the Walters’ Ted Low […]

  • OSI-Baltimore’s Talking About Race Series

    To see listings for upcoming Talking About Race events, go here. OSI-Baltimore has been presenting this free, public series since 2009 as a way of sparking conversations about how race intersects with our lives. They generally attract crowds of about 250 people. Not a Crime to be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America March […]

  • OSI And Stoop Storytelling Present “The Stoop Mayoral Show”

    LISTEN TO THE WHOLE EVENT HERE! The Open Society Institute-Baltimore and the Stoop Storytelling Series are collaborating on The Stoop Mayoral Show, at the War Memorial, April 13 at 7pm. This one-of-a-kind election year event features Baltimore’s mayoral candidates telling 5-minute true, personal tales about their first job. It’s a different way to get to […]

  • WATCH: Packed house hears mayoral candidates debate criminal justice reform

    Hundreds of people filled the main sanctuary at the historic Union Baptist Church in West Baltimore’s Upton neighborhood last night to hear mayoral candidates talk about their plans to reform Baltimore’s criminal justice system at the second #VoteBmore mayoral primary forum, co-hosted by OSI, Associated Black Charities, and City Paper. Watch the full forum below. Rev. […]

  • School police assault sparks outrage, arrests, calls for reform

    The widely-circulated video of a school police officer assaulting a student at REACH Partnership School in Clifton Park last week has prompted legal action and broad discussions of the role of police in public schools. The story has been covered by national outlets including the New York Times and CNN and again focused attention on […]

  • Second #VoteBmore Mayoral Primary Forum Will Focus on Criminal Justice

    CONTACT:  Evan Serpick 410-234-1091 BALTIMORE – Next Wednesday, March 16 at Union Baptist Church in West Baltimore, Open Society Institute-Baltimore (OSI), Associated Black Charities (ABC) and Baltimore City Paper will hold the second of two mayoral primary forums. This forum will focus on issues related to the criminal justice system, including mass incarceration, school police, the public […]

  • New York Times highlights work of Community Fellow

    Today the New York Times’ David Bornstein posted a powerful piece, the first of a two-part series about Baltimore non-profit Thread (“For Vulnerable Teens, a Web of Support“). It details the group’s work providing comprehensive support for some of Baltimore’s most at-risk young people and concludes that “[w]hat they and the Thread students are achieving together deserves […]

  • Statement on School Police

    CONTACT:  Evan Serpick 443-909-7365 Statement by the Maryland Coalition to Reform School Discipline about Baltimore School Police in light of incident at REACH! Partnership School BALTIMORE (March 2, 2016) – Like much of the Baltimore community, we were deeply disturbed by a video that recently emerged showing a uniformed Baltimore School Police (BSP) officer repeatedly slapping and […]

  • Help Restore the Book Thing of Baltimore

    A fire early this morning caused severe damage to a warehouse housing the beloved Book Thing of Baltimore, which has served as a vibrant free book exchange and community institution for more than 15 years. Book Thing founder Russell Wattenberg, who was one of OSI-Baltimore’s first Community Fellows in 2000, made some comments through an intermediary […]