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The Official Newsletter of The University of Maryland's Black Student Newspaper
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March 5, 2026 | Volume 1 | Issue 6
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Hello All! For this week's newsletter, we have an overview of the Makaya McCraven experimental jazz performance, the journalism school's new sneaker journalism class, UMD's reaction to the Potomac sewage spill and a UMD rally against potential AI data centers in Prince George's County.
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Happy Women's History Month!
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-Nina Wilson, 2025-2026 Editor-in-Chief
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Makaya McCraven, an “organic beat scientist” and leading voice in Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene, brought his hip-hop-inspired rhythms and spirit of improvisation to the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dekelboum Concert Hall Feb. 21, touring with a four-piece ensemble in support of his newest album, “Off the Record.”
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The performance, played by McCraven and three other members of the record’s sessions—Junius Paul on bass, Marquis Hill on trumpet and Joel Ross on vibraphone—featured lengthy, expansive selections from the recent release, beginning with the setlist opener “Away.” McCraven spirited audience members with the drummer’s complex mixture of jazz, funk and experimental music.
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In the middle of the performance, McCraven got up from his kit and spoke directly to the audience on the nature of improvisation, explaining that many people ask him how he’s able to come up with new music on the spot at every show. The answer, according to McCraven, lies in what humans do every day: processing the constant minutiae of daily life.
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🔗: Read more here
✍️: Cameron Lee
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Though it sounds cut and dry on the outside, Merrill’s Sneaker Journalism class covers a lot more than just sneaker releases, as the overarching project for the class is to create a documentary on a murder that took place in the city during a Nike sneaker release.
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“No one has really reported on it,” Professor Jamaal Abdul-Alim said. “There’s bits and pieces here, but no story.”
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In between working on the documentary, the class discusses current happenings in the sneaker industry, such as retired basketball player Michael Jordon’s NASCAR pit crew debuting new Air Jordans at the Daytona 500 and the controversy that followed the event.
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Prior to the class starting, Abdul-Alim created customized assignments for each student based on their interests.
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🔗: Read more here
✍️: Sydney Dizárd
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University of Maryland community members are urging local governments to collaborate on solutions after one of the largest wastewater spills in U.S. history occurred only about 20 miles from campus.
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Roughly 243 million gallons of wastewater overflowed into the Potomac River when part of a sewer system collapsed on Jan. 19, according to a D.C. Water press release. UMD researchers found high levels of disease-causing pathogens and fecal-related bacteria following the collapse.
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The bacteria— E. Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and an antibiotic-resistant strain of mRSA, can cause serious injury or death, according to a UMD School of Public Health press release.
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🔗: Read more here
✍️: Ashna Balroop
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📸: Photo by Fid Thomspon, courtesy of Maggie Haslam
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University of Maryland students and community organizers from Prince George’s County filled a classroom in Jimenez Hall last Wednesday to discuss concerns and raise awareness about the impact of potential data centers in the county.
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“They are not concerned about us as individuals and how our livelihood will be impacted, how our air quality will be impacted, how our electric bills are impacted,” Taylor Frazier-McCollum, a community advocate for No Landover Data, said.
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Frazier-McCollum was a part of a panel hosted by 17 for Peace and Justice, this university’s only environmental justice organization, in partnership with the “No Landover Data Center” movement and the Washington branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
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🔗: Read more here
✍️, 📸: Princess Tatsi
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That's all for this week. See you next Thursday!
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