Barbara Forever

Dena Fisher invites us into her neighbourhood. Police sirens, rushing ambulances, gunshots and rows of deteriorating vacant properties shape the landscape of Etting Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Here, we meet Shelley: a driven, hardworking queer carpenter with high standards. She envisions a world where Black women’s safety is never in question and self-sufficiency builds lifelong confidence.

As Shelley and the women build each house, Shelley’s impact reaches far beyond the technical skills. For participants like Bryanna, Shelley becomes a possibility model and proclaims “I want to be just like her”.

Saving Etting Street opens a conversation about gender roles in trade work, redlining, systemic racial inequalities and the barriers
and benefits of home ownership. The women of Black Women Build Baltimore take us through the triumphs and challenges of saving homes in the community of Etting Street.