Founded in 2017, The Billie Holiday Center for the Liberation Arts (BHCLA) is an initiative designed to foster reparative links between Johns Hopkins University and the historic African American communities of Baltimore. Through documenting and disseminating the unique history of African American life, letters, and art in Baltimore, the Center seeks to foster a opportunity for robust engagement amongst the Black population who regularly attend the city’s historic churches, the residents of West Baltimore whose communities have experienced little redevelopment or economic growth, Black students and faculty at Hopkins, and Black artists across Baltimore.
BHCLA realizes its mission through two broad channels of engagement and impact – the archives and the arts. We serve Baltimore by promoting the collection and preservation of African American oral histories and print material culture and creating opportunities to connect artists and audiences. Patronizing off-campus venues, we celebrate our offerings in scholarship and the arts to historically vital and currently underserved communities in Baltimore.