The Baltimore Sun

With challenges ranging from the uncertainty of what the latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic means for their business to worker shortages, some of Baltimore’s Black-owned restaurants say they also deal with harassing behavior and spurious complaints rooted in racism.

The Baltimore Sun

Red roses, white lilies and yellow daisies were laid outside the corner store where Jhosy Portillo was shot, alongside handmade signs that read “end gun violence and “rest in power.”

The Baltimore Sun

During the pandemic, Ortiz has organized a weekly food distribution at Fallstaff Elementary Middle School that serves 250 residents a week, including at least 100 Latinos. With CASA co-workers, he helped 115 residents apply for rental assistance and eviction prevention and connected an additional 150 with cash assistance.

The Baltimore Sun

At the vigil, Mayor Brandon Scott offered his condolences to the families and encouraged the Latino community to speak up at an April 20 forum to talk about what the city can incorporate into its violence prevention plan to help make people feel safe.

The Baltimore Sun

While it has not always been the case in the past, activists in Baltimore’s Black and Latino communities have increasingly been working together to fight for a range of social justice issues. Multiracial organizations like The Intersection, Baltimore Algebra Project and SOMOS have tackled school equity, while others work on digital equity and translate those meetings into Spanish.

The Baltimore Sun

Valeria Fuentes, one of the organizers, called the Latino vote “a sleeping giant.” A record 32 million Latino Americans are projected to be eligible to vote this year, according to Pew Research Center, marking the first time that they’ll represent the largest minority group of eligible voters.