A call to the NAACP: Let’s prioritize Baltimore’s Black students

By Denisha Allen In the heart of Baltimore, where history and hope intertwine, the songs of our ancestors echo with tales of triumph and tribulation. The NAACP has long been a part of this symphony, casting light on shadows of injustice and inequality. Yet today, as new needs have evolved and emerge, it’s time for the organization to keep fighting for Black futures. As the founder of Black Minds Matter and a direct beneficiary of education freedom, I have experienced the challenges of limited educational opportunities. The raw memories of my early school days, filled with struggles and despair, are still vivid. I remember the painful sting of failing the third grade not once, but twice, simply because I couldn’t read. Given the precedents my mother, uncles, aunts, and many other family members had set, I was seemingly destined to become a teenage mother and drop out of school.& Yet my fate took a different turn. Thanks to the intervention of education freedom, I was granted a tax-credit scholarship in Florida. This pivotal moment allowed me to move from a school that was failing me – a place I had been placed in solely based on my residential address –...