“You don’t have to leave your campus to become an activist.” – Marisela B. Gomez

The Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365 keynote “Baltimore in Action: Always Rising” featured a panel of social justice activists and leaders discussing a few of the many issues currently impacting Baltimore City.

• Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III, faith-based activist and community organizer
• Dr. Marisela B. Gomez, public health advocate and author
• Tawanda Jones, activist and sister of Tyrone West
• Jacqueline Robarge, founder of Power Inside
• Kwame Rose, social activist and hip-hop artist
• Moderated by radio host Marc Steiner

Our kick-off event for CSJ 2015 just ended and our brains are still buzzing. Dr. Kelber-Kaye, Associate Director of the Honors College, gave us a history lesson about Baltimore to give context to and explain why things are the way they are in Baltimore City. This information is an excellent foundation of knowledge to have when talking about Baltimore and to take with you to all of our other CSJ events.

Missed the event? No worries! Below is a recap of all the important information. It’s a little longer than most of our blog posts, but all of the information is important. We’ve written it in an outline form to make it easier to read.

Books you absolutely need to read about Baltimore:

1. Black Baltimore: A New Theory of Community
2. The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History
3. Baltimore ‘68

The Kerner Report, published in 1968, was the first report of its kind to blame structural inequalities for issues like crime, poverty, and public health among African American communities. Previously, these issues had been blamed on individual communities and black people themselves. This excerpt from the Kerner Report sets the tone for the information you need to know about Baltimore and Baltimore history:

“What White Americans have never fully understood– but what the Negro can never forget– is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

As Dr. K said, when we blame people and not structure, we’ve decided we didn’t cause it and we don’t have to do anything about it. This history lesson shows how structures built on racism led to today’s conditions.

• 1700s
  • Baltimore is very small; it is made up of mostly Fells Point and Harbor East.
  • Grain production increases in northern Baltimore County.
    • Grain producers begin using the port of Baltimore to export grain.
    • This activity inspires the rise of the shipbuilding industry in Baltimore.
    • Industrial jobs draw free Blacks and ethnic whites (Irish, Eastern European, etc) to the city.
    • Whites begin to move to the city in search of entrepreneurial endeavors, many involving the utilization of slave labor.
• 1800s
  • In Baltimore City in 1810, the number of free blacks equals the number of slaves. (Baltimore is the only place in the US where this occurs.)
  • 1830 saw the decline in slavery in Baltimore City.
    • Whites realized paying ethnic whites small wages for jobs was cheaper than keeping slaves.
    • Competition for jobs and housing created a rift between blacks and ethnic whites.
      • Mobs and gangs of ethnic whites begin to form among groups in the manufacturing industry. These mobs use violence and intimidation to keep free Blacks out of the industry and out of the competition for jobs.
      • South Baltimore became predominantly ethnically white because people lived where they worked and the white mobs and gangs had intimidated African Americans out of the industry in that area.
    • Increases in industry increased population
      • Overcrowding and poor living conditions in Baltimore City “slums” lead to disease and poor sanitation.
      • Estates north of the harbor sell their land to developers who build neighborhoods to house the growing population.
      • Using the rhetoric of “Public Health” and blaming individuals for the poor conditions in industrial “slums,” developers are able to keep ethnic whites and blacks out of these new neighborhoods.
• 1900s
  • In 1910, the first residential segregation law in the US was passed in Baltimore City.
    • Blacks could not live on a majority white block; whites could not live on a majority black block.
    • This law was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1917, but racist segregation practices continued. (Some examples are below; this happened in a lot of other ways, too.)
      • Relators would not sell houses to blacks on white blocks or discouraged whites from buying in black areas.
      • Police and home inspectors would seek out and trouble white landlords renting to black people in white areas.
  • 1937: Post-Great Depression Redlining
    • The Federal Home Loan Organization, which later became the Federal Housing Association, worked with local mortgage brokers to outline housing districts.
    • Redlines were drawn around poor, black neighborhoods and divided the city into districts
      • Districts were classified based on crime, sanitation, median income, and “undesirable populations” aka black people.
      • Redlining policy explicitly condoned and encouraged the continuation of the racist and biased housing practices which resulted from the end of Baltimore housing segregation legislation.
      • Mortgage brokers gave different interest rates to different homeowners based on race and district.
      • Neighborhoods within redlines, the poor and/or black neighborhoods, received higher interest rates which made it significantly more difficult for the people in those areas to buy homes.
  • Why is home ownership so important?
    • It’s part of the “American Dream.”
    • Gives people stable housing conditions
    • Allows for wealth accumulation
      • Houses can be passed down through generations. Once it’s paid off, a house is pure asset. Even when someone is cash poor, they will still have housing and a form of wealth.
  • WWII
    • The wartime economy booms.
      • Bethlehem Steel brings more jobs to Baltimore City.
      • People live where they work, integrating some of the neighborhoods around industrial centers.
      • Unionization brings fairer wages to industrial workers.
      • Bethlehem Steel has the first integrated union.
  • Post war economic downturn
    • Population increases
    • Manufacturing jobs decrease
  • Urban renewal plans of the 1940s and ‘50s
    • After the post war economic decline, Baltimore City policymakers create programs for “Urban Renewal.”
      • The city purchases older, more run-down homes at low, unfair prices.
      • City blocks are flattened and new homes are built.
      • The original homeowners who were displaced are not able to afford the newer, more expensive homes.
      • As a result of urban renewal plans across the county, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced. 58% of them are black.
  • 1960s
    • Anger is building as unfair housing conditions worsen in Baltimore City and the Civil Rights Movement grows.
    • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in April of 1968.
      • Anger, exhaustion, and desperation trigger riots in Baltimore city.
    • People leave the city in droves and head for the county.
      • Whites move north, centrally.
      • Everyone else moves outward into the suburbs.
  • 1970s economic downturn
    • Public housing projects are implemented to better the housing conditions.
      • Old public housing is torn down and replaced, but with less units than before.
      • More people are displaced and begin to overcrowd neighborhoods again.
    • Banks use the opportunity to provide subprime mortgages to vulnerable populations desperately looking for housing.
      • People who got mortgages they couldn’t afford lose their homes and even more people are displaced and left with massive debt.
• Today
  • 2010-2013
    • Median household wealth for Black folks in Baltimore is one third of what it used to be.
    • The income gap between whites and blacks is the widest it’s been in 30 years.
    • Life expectancy can vary by as much as 20 years between baltimore city neighborhoods.
      • Life expectancy varies based on factors like living conditions, rates of violent crime, access to water and healthy food, and access to healthcare, among others.
      • The median annual income in the state of Maryland is $73,538 compared to Baltimore City at $41,000. 23% of Baltimore city residents live below the poverty line compared to 9.8% of Maryland overall.

If you want to know more about structural inequality in Baltimore City, check out these links:

1. A large, interactive archive of information and personal testimony surrounding the Baltimore ‘68 riots.
2. Original 1937 Redline Districting Map (click to download)
3. Interactive map of inequality in city neighborhoods
4. Another, more in-depth interactive map of inequalities
5. Map of life expectancy by neighborhood

As we count down to the Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365 keynote event “Baltimore in Action: Always Rising” on Tuesday, October 20th, we’ll be profiling all of our keynote speakers in our “What You Need to Know” series. 

Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III

Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III

Rev. Dr. Heber M. Brown, III is the Senior Pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore and a Team Leader of Baltimore United for Change – a coalition of activists and organizations working for social justice. As a clergy-activist, Dr. Brown has demonstrated a deep commitment to social justice. He has traveled throughout the U.S. and world speaking about poverty, racism, white privilege, the prison industrial complex, worker’s rights, environmental justice, sexism, food sovereignty and foreign policy. He is also a critical community organizer in Baltimore who is actively involved in grassroots and legislative advocacy. Between 2009 and 2013, he was a central figure in the campaign to halt the construction of a $100 million dollar youth jail in Baltimore.

“… the state is ready to spend millions of dollars to build a world-class prison, but we don’t have world-class schools and we don’t have world-class recreation centers, we don’t have world-class job opportunities, 21st-century job opportunities for our young people.. †

Dr. Brown is also committed to mentoring the next generation of change makers in Baltimore City. He is the Founding Director of Orita’s Cross Freedom School – a multi-site program which embraces African Heritage and Black History. More recently he also launched the Black Church Food Security Network which links Black Churches and Black Farmers in partnership to create a community-controlled, alternative food system based on self-sufficiency, food justice and food sovereignty.

“…normal prior to Freddie Gray [uprising] was unaccepatale, was inhumane, was cruel, as unjust. So we cannot go back to a normal. We have to recreate a new normal.” †

For more on Heber Brown, check out:

• His about.me page
• Follow him on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel 
• From the Marc Steiner Show –  Sound Bites: The Black Church Food Security Network

As we count down to the Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365 keynote event “Baltimore in Action: Always Rising” on Tuesday, October 20th, we’ll be profiling all of our keynote speakers in our “What You Need to Know” series. 

Jacqueline Robarge  

As a feminist, survivor, and activist, Jacqueline Robarge has spent more than two decades working to end gendered violence and oppression. Her work has included trauma healing and justice projects, white anti-racism organizing, action research, and a range of human rights advocacy.

I love the people here [in Baltimore]. I love the history of resistance here. †

Jacqueline is currently the executive director of Power Inside, a Baltimore harm reduction and human rights organization that she founded in 2001. Power Inside serves women and girls impacted by incarceration, street life, and abuse by providing direct client services, advocacy, leadership development, and public education to work toward systemic change.

I keep going back to that vow that I’ve committed my life to service. I think how lucky I am that I know what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life. †

In her role as an appointed member of the Maryland Statewide Prisoner Reentry Task Force and the Governor’s Commission to Reform Maryland’s Pretrial System, she advocated for reform of policies that give rise to preemptive arrests and mass incarceration of people of color and people with disabilities.

For more on Jacqueline, check out:

• This fantastic activist profile on Unsung Baltimore
• Volunteer opportunities with Power Inside

As we count down to the Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365 keynote event “Baltimore in Action: Always Rising” on Tuesday, October 20th, we’ll be profiling all of our keynote speakers in our “What You Need to Know” series. 

Kwame Rose 

Kwame Rose is a social activist and hip-hop artist who’s probably best known for his encounter with Geraldo Rivera of Fox News when he called out the mainstream media’s inaccurate representation of the city and the protestors during the Baltimore Uprising. Since then he’s emerged as a leading voice among those demanding justice and an end to racist policing.

There had been almost two weeks of peaceful demonstrations before the mainstream media poured into Baltimore, and it wasn’t until windows started being broken that anybody tuned in and gave a damn. †

Kwame’s passion for social justice advocacy is also evident in his music, particularly his track “State of Emergency,” which talks about the work to be done in Baltimore even after the cameras stop rolling.

As he’s grown into his role as a leader and community organizer at just 21 years old, Kwame has remained outspoken in his commitment to fostering civic engagement among Baltimore youth, and he’s currently developing his own youth-based advocacy group called VOICES (Vocalizing Our Intelligence Creating Effective Solutions).

For more on Kwame, check out:

• His essay “Why I Protest” in City Paper
• His blog and Twitter
• His EP “Active(ist)” on Soundcloud

As we count down to the Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365 keynote event “Baltimore in Action: Always Rising” on Tuesday, October 20th, we’ll be profiling all of our keynote speakers in our “What You Need to Know” series. 

Marisela B. Gomez, activist, public health professional, and author

Marisela B. Gomez is a community activist, author, public health professional, and physician scientist. She received a BS and MS from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, a PHD, MD, and MPH from the Johns Hopkins University. Of Afro-Latina ancestry, she has spent more than 20 years in Baltimore involved in social justice activism and community building/health research and practice.

Meet Marisela!

Some of her most notable work includes working on and leading the Save Middle East Action Committee which was created by residents living north of the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in an area called Middle East in response to learning the area would become the future site of a $1.8 billion redevelopment project known as the John Hopkins Biotech Park. Marisela was interestingly positioned in this battle as she was a resident of the area and a community member of the Johns Hopkins Medical Center. She would later go on to write a book about the organizing experience, the historical disinvestment of Middle East, and the ongoing consequences of race, economic, and institutional power inequities faced by marginalized communities.

“Supposed you learned about your community like they did, through The Sun [paper]?… You don’t stop big projects initiated by Johns Hopkins University. But you can slow it down, you can seek to change the dollar amount of those whose homes are to be used and you can still struggle for the right of re-entry. You can still fight to make sure the residents who are to be moved out can stay in the neighborhood.” †

Since 2004, she has been studying and practicing mindfulness and other forms of meditation around the world. Most recently, she’s been sharing her meditation practices with activists doing racial justice and social justice work through retreats and workshops with the Baltimore community.

An important read about the confrontation between the fragile and distressed Middle East neighborhood of Baltimore and the city’s most powerful institutions, including the closest neighborhood, Johns Hopkins Medical.

Much of the conversation about Baltimore — especially in the aftermath of the April uprisings — centers around West Baltimore while little attention from national and local media is given to the issues facing East Baltimore. The Critical Social Justice planning committee is excited to have Marisela join our keynote panel and give voice to the experiences of the East Baltimore community. Moreover, we are eager to learn ways in which we can add to our self-care toolkit and learn ways to combat burnout when engaging in important social and racial justice activist work.

For more on Marisela, check out:

• Her website – A Path: Race, Class Power, and Organizing in East Baltimore 
• This segment on the Marc Steiner Show where Marisela discusses her book entitled Race, Class, Power, and Organizing in East Baltimore: Rebuilding Abandoned Communities in America  
• Listen to this podcast interview on the Importance of Listening and Community Involvement in Rebuilding Cities featured on Indypendent Reader
• For more information on the rebuilding of the Middle East and SMEAC. 
• Visit the Baltimore and Beyond: Mindfulness Community to learn more about the mindfulness retreats Marisela facilitates for social justice activists.

On May 27th-30th, I went to University of Maryland, College Park for the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL) to present the semester long Campus Action Project (CAP) Women of Color Coalition’s Telling Our Stories in a Workshop dedicated to combating women of color stereotypes. I, one of CAP team members, along with Megan, the advisor of the CAP, had fifteen minutes to talk about the semester long project and how our project addressed the stereotypes women of color are associated with and just importantly how they can reject it in favor for more nuanced stories and counter-narratives.Before I get to the presentation, I would like to talk about overall conference and its inner workings. These include the workshops, the keynote speakers, and the feminist camaraderie. 

UMBC represented at NCCWSL! Here Bree is with two other UMBC students, Isabel and Vanessa.

NCCWSL, sponsored by American Association for University Women (AAUW) and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA),  is a three day excursion that takes you from workshop to workshop, keynote speakers, and moments to network throughout the day. I came to UMD on Wednesday, May 27 at around 8:30pm, settled in, tried to plan my few days at NCCWSL, and then fell asleep at around 12am. On Thursday, I woke up at around 8am got ready for the $tart $mart salary negotiation workshop. While getting ready, I met my roommate for the conference, Shauna, who just graduated from a university in Iowa. She and her advisors drove from Iowa to be at NCCWSL and present a workshop on their CAP project which was one big event involving women in male dominated fields. I liked the $mart $tart workshop (which are also offered, here at UMBC once a semester!) because it gave me the tools to know my worth going into a job and the confidence to argue for that worth. But still at the end of the workshop, I was still struggling with the idea of negotiating my salary but the leaders of the workshop were really helpful in reassure me about its merits. Then I went to the Finding your Voice and Sharing Voice workshops which  helped me and other conference goers hone in our voices and share them around us. I loved the speed networking workshop because I feel like I have a handle on networking but I need to pickup the pace with it while meeting other women.Then I went to the Women of Distinction Awards ceremony and I enjoyed the diversity of the people being recognized for their work in opening more doors for women to make more successful strides. I got a picture with Elizabeth Acevedo and Amanda Simpson and thanked them for their words of wisdom and hope.

Meeting Elizabeth Acevedo at the Women of Distinction Awards.

The next day began with an empowering breakfast with fellow college women leaders and the sounds of the women drummers from the Bele Bele Rhythm Collective and then a great keynote by Maysoon Zayid, an actress, comedienne, and writer. If you have no idea who Zayid is, here is her Ted talk about having cerebral palsy and acting. She said some amazing and moving things about the leadership and inclusivity not only among gender and race but also ability. I felt like it was great bringing ability into context of activism and leadership because not everyone can go to protests and do physical action related things when it comes to activism. I really loved that addition to the line up as something to consider when leading a group. I transitioned from Zayid’s keynote to the From Silence to Self-Authorship: Storytelling for Empowerment workshop where talked about reading stories as children and what was missing from them. As expected, we talked about women’s stories as well as women of color stories are completely missing from young children’s stories and trying to find ways to start including those narratives in our present world. It was nice to see other people notice what I was noticing throughout my childhood. Then I went to the Career Fair and Dismantling Double Standard: Combating Gender Stereotypes on Campus which focused on other universities CAP Presentations related to about rape culture, domestic abuse, and racial discrimination. What I took from most of the workshop was shedding light on the different people effected by the double standard and how we can support them and create an area for people to share. After that workshop, my workshop group Addressing Stereotypes of Women of Color through a Gendered lens was up next!

Presenting at NCCWSL!

Throughout the bustle of the conference, I managed to review my slides and major points that I wanted my audience to take away from the presentation. I was still very nervous but as soon as I got up and fumbled through my introduction I was ready! We asked about stereotypes and microaggressions  that the audience hears on a regular basis. Each answer to the question was well received with snaps, claps, and nods in solidarity with their replies. We talked about the idea we developed from Women of Color Coalition discussions and interests. The we discussed the photo campaign and its reception (34,000+ notes on Tumblr :-D). We discussed the people we utilized to embody the message of storytelling, from national speakers, Franchesca Ramsey keynote lecture for Critical Social Justice Week  and Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls fame, to community artists QueenEarth and Hollywood Infinite who are  singers, songwriters, and spoken word artists, to institutional scholars, Professor Kimberly Moffitt discussing the politics of woman of color hair.We then shared the experience of the showcase which was the culminating event. We ended by telling our own stories of how the project impacted our thinking about having a discussion of racism through creative means like this project. I told the story about a white guy saw my poster which said, “My name is Bree and I’m not white on the inside.” He bristled then asked me if it was offensive to make a comment about someone being “white on the inside” and replied with yes and an explanation about agency and how you are actively telling your black friend a story about himself that he probably does not identify with. He looked at me with disbelief and then said that no one explained to him why things like this was offensive. He thanked me for widening his perceptions and giving him something to think about. I left with the knowledge of engaging with people that I would have otherwise thought they won’t understand the politics behind identity. The audience loved my story about my interaction with the white presenting guy. We got some questions and applause for our work. I felt a deep connection with this particular group and their willingness to hear our project and its inner workings. I will take that with me throughout my life knowing that the work that I do is important, the critical racial lens I bring to discussion, and have confidence in those two things.

Presenting at NCCWSL!

Throughout the planning and after presenting this particular project, I developed deep pride for the project and I hope to carry the spirit of Telling Our Stories alive beyond just this spring semester. I was genuinely shocked that it was so well received and that people were talking about it every where I was at the conference and some of the AAUW interns were buzzing about it. They even wrote a blog post about our presentation and how amazing it was to here about the way that we had to present. Getting to talk to other college women student leaders about their struggles and triumphs was really relieving. Seeing women of color in student affairs and doing other things besides being a bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, or Kimberly Crenshaw was really awe-inspiring because it shows me that I can do the important social justice work I was born to do and work up to the black feminist philosophy. Overall, I felt pretty welcomed in the conference, not only in physical presence, but also in suggesting ideas and talking to different people about general things that I am doing and in life. I didn’t have to preface things about the social justice work I do because the other attendees are doing the same work I am doing. It felt pretty intersectional from the keynote speakers to the workshops to the college women student leaders I talked with. This experience helped me in so many different ways I am glad I had the opportunity to represent the Women Center through the Women of Coalition. As I left NCCWSL, I brought with me a confidence that was always with me and an eagerness to make a difference that gives me hope that I can make my aspirations come true.

Critical Social Justice: Baltimore 365 — October 19th through 23rd!