Dear Friends of BHCLA,
Since our founding in 2017, the Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts (BHCLA) has stood as a pillar for Baltimore archival preservation and community engagement, bridging the intellectual life of Johns Hopkins University with the historic African American neighborhoods of Baltimore.
Led by Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Dr. Lawrence Jackson and assistant director Xavier Walker, our mission is to document and disseminate the rich culture of Baltimore—but we cannot sustain this vital work alone. As we look toward our next chapter of reparative history, we invite you to invest in the tangible programs that keep Baltimore’s legacy alive.
Your contribution directly supports:
Curating and Archiving Black Baltimore ($1,000,000 goal): Funding the essential salaries for a dedicated Archivist and Curator to preserve oral histories, print material culture, and the collections of significant local Black artists. We hope to retain three professionally trained personnel: an archivist, curator, and operations manager.
Jazz in the Square ($500,000): Sustaining our annual musical celebration in Historic Lafayette Square, honoring Billie Holiday’s legacy and revitalizing civic life through the arts.
Artist & Elder in Residence Programs ($200,000 goal): Providing local Baltimore artists with the resources to create public art installations and conduct deep archival research. Our landmark piece is the famous mural of Congressman Elijah Cummings at the Union Baptist Church on historic Druid Hill Avenue.
The Helena Hicks Speaker Series ($100,000 goal): Maintaining our monthly gatherings that bridge JHU’s intellectual resources with the city’s cultural institutions. With over 30 faculty members featured to date, this series continues to tackle urgent issues like health disparities and racial inequality. Recent lectures have showcased powerhouse researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, including Lisa Cooper and Avonne Connor.
The Donald Bentley Memorial Lecture ($500,000 goal): A cornerstone of our work is the Donald Bentley Annual Memorial Lecture, our capstone public event held at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Founded to honor the life of Donald Bentley—a charismatic young leader and Morehouse student lost to the city’s violence crisis in 1989—this lecture serves as a unique platform to drive critical reflection on the role of art in imagining a more just world. Entering its seventh year, this series has featured stunning speakers like Anna Deavere Smith and D Watkins. Most recently, we celebrated our 2025 Artist in Residence, abstractionist Terry Thompson, at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The BHCLA is more than an academic initiative; it is a commitment to fostering reparative links between the university and the currently underserved communities that are the bedrock of this city.
Your gift today ensures that these programs remain free and accessible to the public. Whether it is supporting the Baltimore Africana Archives Initiative to preserve 200-year-old local treasures or funding our college pipeline for Baltimore City students, your contribution makes a direct impact on the cultural and intellectual landscape of our city. By supporting the BHCLA, you are not just funding a project—you are ensuring that the history of Black Baltimore is archived, curated, and celebrated for generations to come.
Will you join us in this mission? Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the BHCLA to help us continue this essential work. Together, we can honor the legacy of Billie Holiday and the enduring spirit of Baltimore.
Checks should be made payable to the “Johns Hopkins University” with “Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts” as a reference. Donation checks should be mailed to;
Attn: Rhonda Holden
Johns Hopkins University
Office of External Affairs
3910 Keswick Road, N-2200
Baltimore, MD 21211
Or, donation payments can be made electronically at the following website; https://secure.jhu.edu/form/krieger. Electronic payments should be designated to ‘Other – please specify’ and described as “Billie Holiday Center (BHCLA).”
With gratitude,
The Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts
Johns Hopkins University
