Hey Baltimore. Hope you're all well on this gloomy, rainy Tuesday.
As you might've seen in yesterday's newsletter, I'm spending much of this week at ETC, the HQ of Baltimore Innovation Week. Despite the dreary weather and work commitments — after all, it's a Tuesday — I've been seeing a steady and engaged stream of guests coming through for insightful and fascinating sessions from local startups, organizations and investment entities.
A recurring theme arising in a few of the week's sessions, including the
panel we hosted yesterday afternoon that looked back at our last decade of covering Baltimore's tech and innovation worlds, is outsiders' (often negative) perception of Baltimore. UpSurge Baltimore CEO Jamie McDonald noted how people who love this city, despite its issues, link up when outsiders critique it. I brought up how frequently I, when telling people around the country that I live here, hear people tell me how much they love "The Wire." ETC leader Deb Tillett highlighted the work that entities like Baltimore Homecoming have done to try and fix our branding issue.
I mention this here because as much as I hate how poor this city's reputation remains, even in the face of great work done in and out of the tech and innovation sectors every day, I do actually wonder to what extent it's really that much of an issue. Of course, we need great uplifting stories — like the ones The Baltimore Banner recently
published about a space-loving West Baltimore family that NASA invited to a special viewing of a
Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission — that challenge racist narratives of Baltimore as a crime-ridden, inherently failed city.
But, for all the intentionality of people who now and before talk about the importance of equity principles to Baltimore's revitalization (myself included), many residents' lived reality remains stuck were it was 10 years ago. Economic promise means little to those who struggle to survive in long-neglected parts of the Black Butterfly.
I'll put to you a version of the question someone put to me yesterday: What will it actually take to make Baltimore a model for equitable development, where entrepreneurial vitality doesn't displace the most vulnerable, but instead makes them part of the success story?
Let us know your thoughts by replying to this email or sending another to
baltimore@technical.ly, and I'll see you at BIW.
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