Charm City
Baltimore in Color
Nestled off the Chesapeake Bay, you can find a city with as much flavor as the crab cakes it’s famous for. We recommend you break out the Old Bay and head to Baltimore for some of the most fun you’ll find in Maryland.
Just an hour outside Washington DC, Baltimore is the laid-back and fun-loving cousin of the DMV region. As one of America’s oldest cities, Baltimore is a place with stories to tell. Our role, as the Baltimore Black Chamber, is to help share that narrative through the businesses in this community.
The history of this city is deeply rooted in the experiences of Black Baltimoreans. The slave trade flourished in Baltimore’s port. Among the Black people navigating this oppressive era was Frederick Douglass. The abolitionist icon received his informal education in the 1820s Baltimore streets. Those experiences shaped his life, and consequently, American history.
But Baltimore is full of history makers. Folks like James Brown, Ta Nehisi Coates, Len Bias, to Kevin Durant, prove that our hometown heroes are unmatched. And though our local pride shines through the people we produce, it also thrives in the events we host. America's largest free art festival, Artscape, happens annually here. Spanning 14 city blocks, the three-day event welcomes more than 350,000 people. Events like AFRAM bring a diasporic flare to the city. Taking over the 745 acres of Druid Hill Park, the two-day event celebrates afros and brings thousands.
In the end, the beauty of Baltimore is the relaxed vibe you can find on every street corner. Be sure to browse the Black Arts District, a surrogate home to the creative community of Baltimore. Whether visiting the oddly impressive National Great Blacks of Wax Museum (yes the name says it all) or browsing the masterpieces of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Baltimore guarantees something interesting for everyone.
The fun and allure of this city are often overshadowed by the perceptions and media. Though Idris Elba and his character on The Wire told a story of Baltimore as a place of disrepair, that is not the city we know. We are the birthplace of heroes like Thurgood Marshall, the proud home of HBCUs like Morgan State, and a city of rebirth and reinvention. All of that goes beyond the blight and headlines. People may forget that our nickname is 'Charm City.' It's clear from the Black businesses here why that name sticks. Those who visit rarely come just once. And those who stay always know where home is here on the Chesapeake Bay.
