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BlackBooksCafé of Baltimore
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I am a 35 year old Network Engineer who is a product of the Baltimore Public School System circa 1986, and a native of Baltimore who still resides in Baltimore City. I also orchestrate promotions and events planning for Kohesive Productions, an underground music production entity. Kohesive Production recognized for producing internationally acclaimed underground music and makes its home and base of operations in Baltimore. I also write the commentary for the Blackbookscafe website. As an African-American Urban Professional, I wish to spend my entertainment dollars in “my” city as oppose to trekking down 295 to DC to spend my money. As a promotional and events planner, I wish to utilize entertainment venues (clubs, hall rentals, bars, and lounges) in Baltimore city to promote our production company’s musical product. Unfortunately, these two goals have been difficult to accomplish. Baltimore has 392 clubs/bars in a city whose African American population is the majority at 70% yet, 90% of Baltimore entertainment venues are White owned. I have watched Baltimore’s “night-life” undergo a metamorphosis and revitalization that; although lucrative for Baltimore’s tourism industry and gives Baltimore an attractive image, unfortunately did not include the majority population’s entertainment preferences nor was there a push affording us the opportunity to participate in venue ownership. During 1995-97, Councilwoman Stephanie Rawlings spearheaded the “Nightlife Taskforce” to examine methods for revitalizing Baltimore’s afterhour’s entertainment. This examination included probing the DC nightlife, gathering statistical data of the amounts of entertainment dollars that leave Baltimore city and why, and concluded its probe by submitting proposals based on the task force’s findings. The Task Force discovered that over 7 million dollars a year in entertainment funds was leaving Baltimore city, and that it would be in the city’s best interest to extend the 2am curfew law, and create an atmosphere that would encourage new entertainment venues to manifest and support the existing venues. Since that time of the original task force examination, Baltimore have experienced the birth “many” clubs/lounges and bars in the Federal Hill, Canton, and Harbor Pier areas, an entertainment corridor in the downtown harbor area (Market Street) that accommodates outside liquor consumption, and additional venues in the downtown area. The ONE Black Owned venue to exist as a result of the nightlife surge is “Shorty’s Bar” owned by Charles Fields in Fell’s Point. Surely it must be seen as an embarrassing anomaly that amongst a 70% majority black population, Shorty’s is the single African American owned venue to emerge during a prosperous time for Baltimore night life. The African American Urban population has been left out of Baltimore’s entertainment revitalization coup. Unfortunately, many of these newer entertainment entities (The Red Maple, Redwood Trust, The Kiss Café, The Atlantic, Club 2314, Sonar, Have a Nice Day Café and the entire Market Street Entertainment Corridor, Ixia and Fed. Hill establishments to name a few) do not support urban music formats such as: Underground/House Music, Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz or Reggae nor accommodate an African American 28yr and older genre on weekend nights if at all. For an example; in late August 2003 the Red Maple (930 N Charles St) changed their musical format on Friday nights from an urban music format of Underground/ House Music with a strong 30 and over majority African American patronage, to a format that would attract young white trendy patrons. (Just recently I saw our honorable mayor Martin O’Malley traipse through the Red Maple on a Friday night… never seen Ole Marty Mar come through the Red Maple before the musical format change.) African Americans who wish to partake of the rich night life “scene” of downtown Baltimore are forced to frequent these venues due a lack of African American owned venues or venues that by their own volition cater to a 28yr and old African American genre in the downtown entertainment corridor. Generally we are entering an atmosphere of division devoid of welcoming integration. The environment often displays two distinct environments inside a single venue; Blacks on one side, Whites on the other congregating amongst their own “tribes”, usually (but not always) courteous but not truly enjoying one another’s cultural company. Baltimore’s African American population has been reduced to renting out these spaces for occasional events or partnering with the venue owners on percentage splits in order to accommodate our own entertainment’s cultural needs. Baltimore’s nightlife has become enriched with many white-owned entertainment venues that prosper by playing music that has a “watered down” urban “sound” while simultaneously has comforting “white” appeal. In the words of the Red Maple owner: Though last friday (8/29
the Last night of underground music format on Friday nights)
was a great party, it was very much an aberration as compared over the history (This except is from a conversation posted on the website blackbookscafe.com that occurred between the owner of the Red Maple and the creator of the website John Johnson. http://www.blackbookscafe.com/rmrespnse.htm) Very eloquently written and in deciphering this paragraph this message is rendered: “This type of music is encouraging a large African American attendance who don’t binge drink like the young trendy white crowd and thus limits our ability to make obscene amount of money off of them and then send into the streets to drive!” Words of an ignorant and irresponsible club owner “PRICELESS” ; Which leads me into my second point of reference. The 2 am curfew laws are strangling the nightlife in Baltimore. I am a product of the nightlife and entertainment atmosphere of the 80’s, a time when clubs both black and white owned flourished and operated well past 2 am. Is it prudent to have a last call for alcohol @ 1:45 am, and have an influx of people descend upon the streets of Baltimore to drive with fresh alcohol in their system? A smart approach would be to allow venues to operate past 2am and have various closing times. Baltimore has 2 major sports teams whose team members travel to DC, Philly or NYC to enjoy non restrictive adult venues and diverse nightlife cultures. Most of our Ravens and Orioles don’t even reside within city limits. What a travesty!!! There must be a flaw in the formula for this equation when your majority population isn’t participating in city resurgence on an economic level and your billion dollar sports entities CHOOSE not to spend their million in the very city that they play for. Baltimore unfortunately is not alone in this plight. Many cities with large African American populations are experiencing the results of “gentrification” gentrify, -fied, -fying": to convert (an aging area in a city) into a more affluent middle-class neighborhood, as by remodeling dwellings, resulting in increased property values and in displacement of the poor. gentrification - Webster's Dictionary of the American Language (1988). The results of gentrification reach beyond just the re-facing of a city’s population. Gentrification fosters and promotes the inability for Blacks and Whites to coexist and experience one another on a positive cultural plane.
It’s all relative folks!! I challenge Baltimore’s legislative bodies (I.e. The Mayor’s Office and City Council) and the public and private communications entities ( I.e. radio and newspapers) to re-examine the Baltimore night life inequities when it comes to ownership and patronage. Wouldn’t we all be more enriched by an environment where all people are encouraged and supported to participate in the economic and social arenas thus promoting economic and social growth of a city in need of racial, cultural, and economic healing? I believe this topic is a wonderful topic to discuss on your radio program “Two-Way Talk Radio” If you are interested in examining these topics and African American entertainment in Baltimore City the following websites are excellent reference points.
Thank for you attention regarding this matter Kelli CW Bigelow 443 804 1460 |