Baltimore has the worst PR of any city in America': a culture critic on his hometown, race, police and art

"Lawrence Burney's latest, No Sense in Wishing, is a book in which the famous phenom and dark horse share equal weight on the page. It's also a love letter to Baltimore to its artists, its crabs and its streets and a Bildungsroman that finds its heroes in Lupe Fiasco and Frederick Douglass alike. Burney, a Baltimore native, culture critic, and essayist, guides us through a memoir about the art, whether films or paintings or song lyrics, that have informed his personal and professional trajectory."

"The book, which gets its title from a phrase from the documentary Girlhood, comes at a time when the country is facing a crackdown on cities, including Baltimore, on art, on culture, on education, and on attempts at racial reckoning. Burney sat down to talk about his writing journey, and what his memoir means in this moment. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity."

"There's something always inherently political in talking about Baltimore. But it feels even more intense this year when cities are under attack by the actual president. You started this book before the election, but how much of that factored into how you wrote it? At least for the past 30 years, Baltimore is always politicized and heavily racialized. As I get deeper into my craft and my knowledge and just my maturity, I feel like I'm always talking about the same things with Baltimore."

A Baltimore native and culture critic traces personal and cultural history through art—films, paintings, and song lyrics—that shaped professional and private life. The narrative balances a celebrated phenom and a dark horse while offering a love letter to Baltimore, its artists, crabs, and streets. It recounts growing up among artists with Black family traditions rooted in the Chesapeake, becoming a father at 19, and relocating to New York to help expand coverage of lesser-known rap and hip-hop. The work locates heroes like Lupe Fiasco and Frederick Douglass and situates artistic influence amid crackdowns on cities, culture, education, and racial reckoning.

Read at www.theguardian.com