East Baltimore poet and writer Kondwani Fidel has won a National Capital Emmy Award for the reveal video for the Baltimore Orioles City Connect uniforms. The video features Fidel’s poem “You Can’t Clip These Wings,” an ode to Baltimore’s complexities and the many communities that make the city a source of pride for its residents.
Fidel, and the team behind the video, won their Emmy in the Sports Story – Short Form Content category on Saturday night.
Fans and friends celebrated the Emmy winner on social media, calling the award historic and a win for the city.
In the video, a young boy rides a bicycle through the streets of Baltimore handing out posters in several colors with “You can’t clip these wings” written on them.
“You Can’t Clip These Wings” is a nod to the resilience inherent in a life in Baltimore. “This is what it means to love Baltimore in the flesh,” the poem says. It’s an acknowledgement of the city’s imperfections, but a testament to the work that its people can do to make the city better.
The City Connect jersey that went with the video was initially criticized when it was revealed in May 2023, but fans came to appreciate the backstory once it released.
The MLB and the Orioles have emphasized that, like the city it represents, the jersey has more to it than what initially meets the eye. In the poem, what people don’t see is the strength of Baltimore’s many communities. On the jersey, it is the multicolored sleeves that fans and players can untuck from under the black and gray exterior.
Fidel, an East Baltimore native, has previously been recognized for his lyrical poetry and his books and essays on topics such as education reform and civil rights.
The Emmy-winning reveal video was produced for the Baltimore Orioles by an eight-person team, all of whom were listed as Emmy recipients. The Capital Emmys ceremony, which was held in Bethesda, Maryland, recognizes professional achievement in the Chesapeake Bay region.
