Baltimore’s boxing tradition has produced generations of talented fighters, trainers and champions. Coach Mack Allison is helping keep that tradition alive through Time 2 Grind Boxing Club, where his work extends beyond developing athletes to mentoring young people and strengthening the community.
Allison, the founder of Time 2 Grind, has spent decades in combat sports and has trained numerous amateur and professional champions. He is also the father and longtime coach of professional boxer Mack “PAPI” Allison IV, one of several accomplished fighters to come through the gym.
Time 2 Grind Boxing Club is located inside Transforming Life Church of God, pastored by David K. Biggers, at 4801 Sipple Avenue in Baltimore. The gym provides training for children, teens and adults while emphasizing discipline, confidence, physical fitness and personal responsibility.
The club has developed an impressive roster of fighters, including Mack Allison IV, Malik “The Ring King” Titus, Tyrell “Iron Soldier” Boyd, Destiny “Lady Tyson” Day Owens and Carl Behm.
Walter Stone Sanders IV, Destiny ‘Lady Tyson’ Day Owens, Mack "Papi" Allison IV, Tyrell Iron Soldier Boyd, Manager James Hogan and Malik "The Ring King" King Titus
Mack Allison IV has earned USBU, USWBC Gold, UBF and NABC championships. Titus has won USBU, USWBC Silver, UBF and NABC titles, while Boyd has captured USBU, UBF, NABA and NABC championships. Owens is a two-time world champion whose accomplishments include UBF World, WIBA Female World and USBU championships. Behm was named a 2026 Golden Gloves alternate.
During an interview with The Baltimore Times, Coach Mack shared that several of his fighters are continuing to stay active in the ring.
Destiny "Lady Tyson" Owens
Mack Allison IV is scheduled to fight in Columbia on August 29. Coach Mack said his son has approximately 30 professional fights and continues to climb the rankings.
Boyd is scheduled to return to the ring on September 26. In addition to boxing professionally, Coach Mack said Boyd has served in the Army for 13 years and is also a father.
Baltimore, MD - The 8th Annual Billie Holiday Jazz in the Square concert celebrates music, history, and culture at the historic Lafayette Square Park.
The Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts (BHCLA) will host the “8th Annual Billie Holiday Jazz in the Square” concert on Saturday, September 12th, 2026, at the historic Lafayette Square Park from 2 to 6pm.
Jazz in the Square celebrates the important legacy of Billie Holiday with music, history, and culture at Lafayette Square Park, one of Baltimore’s beautiful and historic gardens. The concert features world-famous jazz musicians from the Peabody Conservatory: percussionist Nasar Abadey, vocalist Charanée Wade, bassist Kris Funn, saxophonist Justin Mendez, and pianist Richard D. Johnson. This afternoon is emceed by legendary WEAA host Robert Shahid, with additional music provided by Charles Dockins.
In addition to a lively afternoon of jazz selections, this year's concert also features an exhibit illustrating the early history of the St. James Episcopal Church and its abolitionist founder William Levington, the first ordained Black priest in the South. “Showcasing the centrality of worship spaces within larger conversations surrounding Black history, liberation movements, and culture is vital,” said curator Dr. Raynetta Wiggins-Jackson. “I look forward to attendees engaging their minds and enriching their souls as they learn more about St. James Episcopal’s impact on civil rights in Baltimore City and beyond.”
Jazz in the Square is free and open to the public. “I am excited to continue this tradition of engagement with a foundational American art form,” Dr. Lawrence Jackson, Director of the BHCLA, said. “By taking jazz out from the symphony hall and returning it to its nesting place near Pennsylvania Avenue, we continue to deepen our knowledge of the communal creativity of the arts!”
Register here for Jazz in the Square and learn more about the Billie Holiday Center and St. James Episocopal Church.
Contact
Xavier Walker, Assistant Director
Dr. Gregory Gasbarro Leads Introduction of Advanced Robotic-Assisted Shoulder Arthroplasty at Mercy
Baltimore, Maryland — Mercy Medical Center is advancing orthopedic care in the Mid-Atlantic region with the introduction of MAKO SmartRobotics™ technology for shoulder replacement surgery. The technology, which enhances precision and personalization in shoulder arthroplasty procedures, is now available to patients through orthopedic shoulder specialist Gregory V. Gasbarro, M.D., among the first in the Mid-Atlantic region performing robotic MAKO shoulder arthroplasty.
The addition of MAKO SmartRobotics™ for shoulder replacement represents the latest advancement in Mercy's comprehensive orthopedic program and provides patients with access to cutting-edge surgical technology close to home.
MAKO SmartRobotics™ for shoulder replacement utilizes a detailed 3D CT scan to create a personalized surgical plan based on each patient's unique anatomy. During surgery, the robotic technology assists the surgeon in executing that plan with enhanced precision and control while allowing the surgeon to make real-time adjustments as needed.
MAKO Robot
"Bringing MAKO SmartRobotics™ shoulder technology to Mercy represents a significant advancement in the care we provide patients suffering from shoulder arthritis and other debilitating shoulder conditions," said Dr. Gasbarro. "This technology allows us to create a highly individualized surgical plan and execute it with exceptional precision. The result is a more personalized approach to shoulder replacement that may improve implant positioning, optimize outcomes, and help patients return to the activities they enjoy."
A board-certified orthopedic surgeon and fellowship-trained shoulder specialist, Dr. Gasbarro focuses exclusively on shoulder injuries and conditions. His expertise spans both complex shoulder reconstru
BALTIMORE, MD — Baltimore Clayworks is pleased to present Shino Odyssey, a juried exhibition celebrating the remarkable depth and diversity of one of ceramics’ most distinctive glaze families. On view September 12 - October 31, 2026, the exhibition brings together the work of nearly 90 artists exploring the many possibilities of Shino, from its warm earth tones and soft surfaces to its unpredictable variations shaped by clay, application, atmosphere, and fire.
Juried by ceramic artist, Matthew Hyleck, Shino Odyssey brings together artists working across generations, geographies, and approaches to ceramic practice. Hyleck has worked with Shino glazes for nearly 25 years and describes the glaze family as offering an extraordinary combination of complexity, sensitivity, and possibility.
“These glazes remain highly sensitive to clay body, application, kiln atmosphere, and duration of the firing which in turn allows for tremendous diversity with a touch of serendipity,” says Hyleck.
Shino has a long and influential history in ceramic art. Originating in Japan in the 16th century, traditional Shino is characterized by its high feldspar content and thick, semi-translucent white surface. Over the past 50 years, American ceramic artists have developed their own interpretations of the glaze while retaining its foundational chemistry of feldspar, soda ash, and kaolin.
Artwork by Matt Hyleck
What makes Shino particularly compelling is its sensitivity. Small changes in clay body, glaze application, kiln atmosphere, and firing duration can produce dramatically different results. The glaze may emerge creamy white, peach, orange, or warm earth tones; surfaces can becomeglossy, dry, textured, translucent, or marked by flashes of color and atmospheric variation. The element of unpredictability is central to Shino's appeal.
For Hyleck, the exhibition is also a reflection of the lineage of American ceramic artists who have spent decades testing, refining, failing, and experimenting with Shino. Artists such as Malcolm Davis and Warren MacKenzie helped establish Shino as a significant force in contemporary American ceramics, inspiring generations of potters to explore its possibilities.
“Shino glazes are at times temperamental, ethereal, sumptuous and tantalizing,” Hyleck says. “This exhibit seeks to explore Shino works that best illustrate the depth, range, and variat
Baltimore is mourning the loss of O.J. Brigance, a beloved Baltimore Ravens legend, mentor and advocate whose impact extended far beyond the football field.
Brigance died following an extraordinary battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS. For more than two decades, he was a defining presence within the Ravens organization and throughout the Baltimore community, first as a player, later as an executive and ultimately as one of the region’s most recognizable advocates for people living with ALS.
“O.J. was a beloved legend, mentor and man to everyone who was fortunate enough to know him,” Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said in a statement. “This is a tremendously sad day for Baltimore.”
Brigance joined the Ravens as a free agent linebacker in 2000 and quickly became a standout on special teams. His place in Ravens history was cemented during Super Bowl XXXV when he recorded the first tackle of the game on the opening kickoff. Baltimore went on to defeat the New York Giants and capture the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship.
After a seven-year NFL playing career, Brigance returned to the Ravens in 2004, transitioning into the organization’s front office. He went on to lead the team’s player engagement efforts, helping players adjust to life in the NFL while supporting their professional and personal development.
His work earned national recognition. The NFL honored the Ravens with the Best Overall Player Development Program Award in both 2005 and 2006. The organization also received the league’s Most Outstanding Internship Program Award in 2005 and Outstanding Continuing Education Program Award in 2007.
But Brigance’s influence took on an even greater meaning after he was diagnosed with ALS in 2007.
Rather than retreat from public life, Brigance and his wife, Chanda, transformed their experience into a mission of service. Together they established the Brigance Brigade Foundation, which has worked to improve the quality of life for people living with ALS and their families through support services, equipment assistance, resources and advocacy.
The couple’s commitment to the community recently earned them recognition as Black Marylanders to Watch by The Baltimore Sun.
Ravens Executive Vice President Ozzie Newsome remembered Brigance as an inspiration long before his diagnosis.
“He was a hero to this city long before his courageous battle with ALS and became an even greater inspiration in the way he faced it with the same fight, faith and grace he brought to the football field,” Newsome said.
That combination of faith, determination and optimism was echoed throughout the tributes released by the Ravens.
Executive Vice President and General Manager Eric DeCosta called Brigance “the definition of what it means to live like a Raven,&
Baltimore artist Madeleine Benavent will bring a body of work shaped by travel, portraiture and life at sea to Hampden this September with a showcase exhibition at Baltimore Art Gallery.
The gallery will host the opening of Madeleine Benavent’s Showcase Exhibit on Friday, September 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Baltimore Art Gallery, 855 W. 36th Street in Baltimore. The event is part of First Friday festivities and will give visitors an opportunity to meet Benavent, view her work and hear firsthand about the unusual circumstances under which many of her paintings have been created.
A Baltimore native, Benavent has developed an artistic career that has taken her far beyond the city while continuing to influence the work she brings home.
Benavent graduated from the College of Wooster in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art. During an advanced drawing course under Professor Marina Mangubi, she began developing what would become her primary artistic passion: painting in acrylics.
Her early professional life followed a more traditional path. Benavent worked full-time as a high school art teacher in Baltimore, but even then, her lifestyle was anything but conventional. She lived aboard a boat while teaching, combining her career as an educator with a growing connection to the water.
That relationship with the sea ultimately transformed both her life and her artistic practice.
In 2016, Benavent and her husband set sail, beginning a nomadic lifestyle that would take them across the Atlantic Ocean and throughout the Mediterranean. Rather than putting her artwork aside while traveling, Benavent turned the changing environments around her into an extension of her studio.
She continued painting aboard the boat, developing portraiture while experiencing new landscapes, cultures, people and wildlife around the world.
The result is a body of work characterized by vibrant color and expressive interpretations of human and animal subjects. Benavent primarily works with layered acrylic paint on canvas board, building depth and personality through color, texture and careful observation.
Her unconventional lifestyle also helped introduce her work to a broader audience. Many clients who later commissioned custom portraits first encountered Benavent through Rigging Doctor, the YouTube channel documenting the couple’s sailing experiences. The platform provided viewers with a window into both their travels and the unusual reality of maintaining a creative career while crossing oceans.
The upcoming Baltimore exhibition offers Benavent an opportunity to reconnect that international journey with the city where her story began.
During the September 4 opening, guests will be able to enjoy refreshments, meet the artist and learn more about what it means to create paintings while living and traveling aboard a sailboat. The evening also provides an opportunity to experien
Growing up, I could name the Black professionals in my community without much thought. We had plenty of teachers and preachers, two doctors, a lawyer, a dentist, and lots of morticians. What we didn't have, at least not that I ever saw, was an accountant — someone whose job it was to sit with a family or a business owner and make sense of the numbers.
That absence stayed with me, which is part of why I sat down with Arnold Farmer for this month's Black Business Month series. Just as we track blood pressure, sleep, and nutrition as vital signs of a healthy body, a business has vital signs too — and its numbers are chief among them. Ignore them, and even the most hardworking business can quietly decline while everything on the outside still looks fine.
Farmer didn't grow up knowing what a CPA was either. It wasn't until he arrived at Towson University, needing an internship to graduate, that an advisor noticed his aptitude for accounting classes and pointed him toward a career he had never considered. That nudge became a calling. Thirteen years later, Farmer is Senior Manager of Practice Growth and Engagement at SC&H Group, where he leads business development for the firm's audit practice — work that puts him face-to-face daily with business owners wrestling with some of the least glamorous, most essential parts of entrepreneurship: their numbers.
“Everybody sees the storefront,” Farmer says. “They don't see the nuts and bolts.”
Behind Every Storefront, a Story in Numbers
For Black Business Month, Farmer's message to entrepreneurs is direct: know your numbers, or find someone who can help you understand them. “A Black business, they should know their numbers,” he says. “They should know the appropriate ratios, what their EBITDA is, what their net income is. They should understand their profit and loss statement.”
It sounds basic. It isn't. Farmer says the business owners who struggle most aren't lacking hustle — they're lacking information. Some may have a tax issue. Others can't access capital because they haven't yet learned to tell the story their own numbers are trying to tell.
The Fear Factor
Why do so many business owners avoid the conversation altogether? Farmer traces it to something deeper than spreadsheets. “It really is the fear of seeming like you're ignorant,” he says — a hesitancy rooted in the worry that if others know what you have, “they might want to take it, or push me down because they don't have it.”
That fear often compounds into imposter syndrome, which Farmer sees regularly — entrepreneurs succeeding by every measure but still unsure of their own worth
Ravens fans, “The Bank” got a serious upgrade.
Ahead of the Baltimore Ravens’ preseason opener, I had the opportunity to get a first look at the newly renovated spaces inside M&T Bank Stadium, and there is a lot for the Flock to explore this season.
The upgrades are part of “The Next Evolution,” a three-year transformation of M&T Bank Stadium announced by the Ravens and Maryland Stadium Authority in 2023. While there are plenty of changes throughout the stadium, a few spaces immediately stand out.
The Pregame Might Be Just as Fun as the Game
First up: The Bud Light Talon.
Designed as a new pregame destination, the massive two-level space includes an open-air music stage, plenty of room to gather and space for approximately 2,000 to 3,000 fans on the lower level alone.
This means, you may want to get to the stadium a little earlier this season.
And when Baltimore weather cooperates, an open-air music stage inside an NFL stadium feels like a pretty good way to kick off gameday.
Frank’s RedHot Backstage Brings the Sports Bar Inside the Stadium
Located inside the Bud Light Talon is Frank’s RedHot Backstage, a new indoor sports bar that feels like an exclusive nightclub.
The space features several bars, elevated food options and one of the largest LED video screens in the region.
And yes, there’s food.
Among the signature offerings is the Frank’s RedHot Perdue Chicken Sando, giving fans another reason to arrive hungry.
Even better, the space isn’t limited to football Sundays. Frank’s RedHot Backstage is designed to host programming and events throughout the year.
More Room to Hang Out — and Better Views
Upper-level fans are getting some love, too.
The Overlook adds more than 7,000 square feet of hospitality space throughout the upper-level concourse known as “The Perch.”
That means more room to grab something to eat, meet up with friends and enjoy views of Charm City without feeling like you have to stay glued to your seat.
And perhaps one of the most practical upgrades of them all: more restrooms.
The Ravens added approximately 30% more restroom fixtures throughout The Perch in response to fan feedback, with the goal of reducing wait times and getting fans back to the action faster.
Because nobody wants to miss a touchdown standing in a bathroom line.
Bigger Screens, More Ravens
Fans will also notice significantly more screens throughout the stadium.
Since 2025, M&am
BALTIMORE, Md. – Securityplus Federal Credit Union today announced the launch of Securityplus Investments, a new self-directed investing platform available directly within its digital banking experience. Powered by Eko Investments, the platform provides members with a convenient, accessible way to explore investment opportunities, build personalized portfolios, and take meaningful steps toward long-term financial growth.
For nearly nine decades, Securityplus FCU has remained committed to helping members achieve financial stability and reach their goals through trusted financial products and services. The introduction of Securityplus Investments marks the next evolution of that commitment by expanding access to wealth-building opportunities and making investing more approachable for members at every stage of life.
Through Securityplus Investments, members can conveniently access self-directed investing tools alongside their everyday banking services, creating a seamless experience that supports both short-term financial management and long-term financial success. The platform also includes educational resources and market insights designed to help members make informed investment decisions with confidence.
"For nearly 90 years, our purpose has been to make sure our members have access to the financial tools that build stability and, over time, wealth. Investing has too often been the one tool left out of that promise," said Mike Barr, Chief Executive Officer of Securityplus Federal Credit Union. "Eko changes that. Any member can begin building an investment portfolio from the same place they already bank, on their own terms and at a scale that fits their life."
The launch reflects Securityplus' continued focus on innovation and its mission to meet members' evolving financial needs. By integrating investing directly into digital banking, Securityplus is helping remove traditional barriers to investing while creating greater opportunities for financial inclusion across the communities it serves.
For many members and families, the ability to invest represents more than growing savings. It creates a pathway toward achieving major life goals, strengthening financial resilience, and building generational wealth that can have a lasting impact for years to come.
"Partnering with Eko Investments represents another important step in our commitment to exceed member expectations," said Jeff Gehris, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Experience Officer. "By introducing investment options within digital banking, we are giving our members greater choice and convenient access to tools that can help them build wealth and strengthen their financial future. At Securityplus, financial empowerment is about more than providing traditional banking products. It is about cr
