Join us for the screening of "Tax Broke" at the Real News Network (231 Holliday Street) on April 11th -- doors will be open and food available at 5:30pm. The screening will take place at 6pm, with a panel discussion at 7pm. The UMBC American Studies Department, Public Humanities Program, Community Leadership Programs, and Shriver Peaceworker Program, as well as the League of Women Voters of Baltimore City are sponsoring this event. Please RSVP via this link.
We know that for decades, Baltimore has struggled to grow. The loss of people and investment has prompted the city to pursue a risky strategy of effectively paying developers to build. Using incentives with innocuous sounding acronyms like TIFs and PILOTs, new construction in the city has occurred largely at the expense of the city's working class. Meanwhile, despite the promises that incentives would reverse the city's decline, Baltimore continues to lose population.
How did we get here? Why is Baltimore the only jurisdiction in the state that must pay for development? And is there a better way to grow a city? These are just a few of the questions that Tax Broke, the documentary seeks to answer. The film-- five years in the making-- explores the history of the city's fraught relationship with artificially imposed boundaries, codified segregation, and finally a political economy fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives doled out behind closed doors.
After the screening there will be a panel discussion with Char McCready, Executive Director of Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CPHA); Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Studies, UMBC; Nneka N'namdi, Founder and Executive Director, Fight Blight BMore. Taya Graham, Real News Reporter and producer, and Stephen Janis, Real News Reporter and director.
We know that for decades, Baltimore has struggled to grow. The loss of people and investment has prompted the city to pursue a risky strategy of effectively paying developers to build. Using incentives with innocuous sounding acronyms like TIFs and PILOTs, new construction in the city has occurred largely at the expense of the city's working class. Meanwhile, despite the promises that incentives would reverse the city's decline, Baltimore continues to lose population.
How did we get here? Why is Baltimore the only jurisdiction in the state that must pay for development? And is there a better way to grow a city? These are just a few of the questions that Tax Broke, the documentary seeks to answer. The film-- five years in the making-- explores the history of the city's fraught relationship with artificially imposed boundaries, codified segregation, and finally a political economy fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives doled out behind closed doors.
After the screening there will be a panel discussion with Char McCready, Executive Director of Citizens Planning and Housing Association (CPHA); Nicole King, Associate Professor of American Studies, UMBC; Nneka N'namdi, Founder and Executive Director, Fight Blight BMore. Taya Graham, Real News Reporter and producer, and Stephen Janis, Real News Reporter and director.
Food will be provided by the Mera Kitchen Collective. Please RSVP via this link, as seating is limited.
Hope to see you there. Share the link and the attached flyer with your networks.