On The Recor‪d‬ WYPR

The state rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine has been slow, chaotic and frustrating. But even with the glitches … nearly 800-thousand Marylanders have managed to secure a slot and get vaccinated. What does immunity offer … and how maddening is it for those still waiting? We talk with Dr. Neda Frayha, Dr. Zackary Berger, Gregory Terry, Renee Wilson, Sara Torvik and Jackie Oldham. Oldham says the quest for an appointment feels like a life-or-death competition:

“I liken it to the hunger games where you’re forced to go out and fight for this really necessary incredibly vital vaccine.” 

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Here’s a Stoop Story from Dr. Cat Chamberlain about her experience as a medical director at the Baltimore Convention Center Covid-19 overflow field hospital last year.  You can hear their story and many others at stoopstorytelling.com, as well as the Stoop podcast. 

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Eighty days into his tenure as Baltimore City’s mayor, Brandon Scott wrestles with some of the city’s enduring challenges,  and some newer ones.

We ask about the police consent decree, his multi-pronged struggle against gun violence, what help he expects from the Biden-Harris administration, and what is on the mind of so many citizens -- the city’s Covid-19 response. Scott contends the state is not sending enough vaccine to the local health department. That’s why he’s asking Johnson and Johnson to sell directly to the city - thousands of the doses it’s manufacturing in Baltimore.

“If we had a more equitable process at the state level, then maybe we wouldn’t have had to ask Johnson and Johnson for help.”

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Retailers and consumers are navigating a challenge: looking ahead to buying and selling post-pandemic while keeping commerce alive now. 

The Baltimore Downtown Partnership is focused on both, with BOOST, which stands for 'Black-Owned and Occupied Storefront Tenancy.' It pairs Black-owned businesses with vacant storefronts and wraparound services like tech and marketing support. 

Delali Dzirasa, himself a successful entrepreneur with his tech company Fearless, talks of the responsibility to nurture new ventures. And Shelonda Stokes, president of Downtown Partnership, describes the kind of business they want to boost:

 “We want organizations that are going to contribute to downtown, organizations that are going to thrive and employ other people in here. That’s a win. And that’s what we’re looking for.”"

Plus, Tanisha Taliaferro, a bold shop owner tells why she opened her boutique during the pandemic.

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In his new book, “We Own This City,” Baltimore Sun crime reporter Justin Fenton unwinds a twisted tale of dirty cops, oblivious leaders, and a community betrayed by those sworn to protect it.

Fenton unearths the rotten roots of the Gun Trace Task Force, an elite plainclothes police unit that won praise for its arrest rate, all while skimming from drug busts and illegally searching citizens.

Read an except here.

Check out more reporting by Fenton on the Gun Trace Task Force:
Cops and Robbers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

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n anthology of Black American history...verses about the life of 18th-century poet Phillis Wheatley...short stories about girlhood in the South. These are some of the new must-read picks Carla Du Pree of CityLit Project offers us. She also previews next month’s virtual festival.

And local history teacher Dante Brizill shares the unsung story of African-American war heroes who drove the Red Ball Express after D-Day.

Check out Carla's book picks:
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of Africa America 1619 - 2019 - Ibram X Kendi & Keisha N. Blain
The Age of Phillis and The Love Songs of W. E. Du Bois - Honoree Fanonne Jeffers 
The Prophet - Robert Jones
Caul Baby - Morgan Jerkins
Milk, Blood, Heat - Dantiel W. Moniz
We Speak For Ourselves - D. Watkins
The Sum of Us - Heather McGhee
How the Word is Passed - Clint Smith
Children’s & Young Adult Literature: Angel of Greenwood, Randi Pink; The Life I’m In, Sharon G Flake

 

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