Recently, I was able to go to my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland for a small Birthday vacation. The plan was to have a party for my father’s 60th because his birthday is around the same time as mine. I had no idea that I too would be getting honored at this party and my mother planned to surprised me as well with my husband on board. On my actual birthday, he wanted to keep me busy so he picked a nice restaurant downtown in the Fells Point area. Little did either of us know, and mom was upset he didn’t ask her, that Fells Point has been in the news lately. It wasn’t for good reasons. Fells Point is crime ridden and dangerous. We were lucky, nothing bad happened that day.
We picked one particular restaurant but it was too crowded and wait times too long for us to stay. We walked around, which I have done when I was a kid and thought would be okay. We found a different restaurant and spent about an hour eating and enjoying. We went back to our rental and drove back to my sisters home. And that’s where we were told what was going on.
Apparently, Baltimore’s usual crime has spread into the Fells Point area. As my parents were talking to us, they informed us that it has gotten so bad that people were supposed to be holding a meeting with the Mayor. The new Mayor promised, as most politicians do, to do something about the crime in Baltimore and surrounding neighborhoods in his first 100 days. Yet, when it came time for him to do his job, he did not.
My family and friends have been dealing with a dangerous Baltimore since I left in 2006. I cannot remember a time the city was truly safe in my entire childhood. Even when I left and lived in California from 1996 to 2002, the crime was still high. I used to joke with a friend in the military that was from Detroit about who had the more dangerous hometown. Sad, I know. And it doesn’t stop there.
Of the crime that happens, I know two people close to me. My own brother was shot in 2010, the first time my husband even stepped foot in the city. It was December of that year and we were back from a tour in Iraq. As I was talking my husband up to my parents apartment at the time, we got a call that my youngest brother was fighting for his life up at John Hopkins hospital. He had been shot defending himself during a late-night robbery attempt. Thank God, after surgeries and the brilliance of John Hopkins, my brother is still alive today with a small family of his own and successful career as a chef. My cousin Tyrone wasn’t so lucky. He was murdered on the streets of Baltimore. I don’t know the details about everything but from his late- wife it was when he was during his usual traveling around the city. Crime in Charm city is as known as it being the place that the Star Spangled Banner was written. It is so bad that even the hit show “The Wire” focuses on the crime.
Back to my conversation with my parents, they were upset because again another mayor was letting the city down. He made promises to get voted in only to break them at a time when people and even children are scared. It used to be known that crime was worse at night and in certain parts of town. You’d lock your car doors and put a club on your steering wheel to keep thieves from stealing your ride. But this has gotten worse, people have now been attacked in broad daylight. Crime is now a daytime thing. And city residents do not know what to do.
Here is an article of Mayor Young, not showing up to a meeting on crime. I kid you not, he was a no show on one of the most important topics the city fights daily. The excuse for his absence is that he was at another meeting. The people of the city felt blown off, again by a Democratic Mayor.
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/citys-town-hall-on-crime-in-fells-point-disappointing-mayor-a-no-show
Talking to the family, it seems that many were disappointed about the Mayor and his response. I know that he recently is creating a crime council but it isn’t more genuine.
I didn’t have time to go into the talk about why they voted for him and if they would give any Republicans a chance. It was a peaceful conversations and I didn’t want to turn it left-field with talk about their voting choices. (I have done this is the past and it led to angry fighting).
But, another thing that shocked me is that there was a GOP candidate for mayor. Her name is Shannon Wright and she the GOP chair in Baltimore City. I think people know more about Kim Klacik and her famous campaign ad of her walking through Baltimore. Shannon didn’t get the attention she needed and most of the people I know didn’t know who she was. Is this the problem with getting Republicans’ before the people in these cities or are they truly just brainwashed to pick democrats? I don’t know but when you haven’t had a Republican since 1967 and the media, press on both sides essential don’t do the work of promoting her, one has to wonder if people want change or just to complain.
Baltimore is my hometown and I left in 2006 for a chance at something different. People usually say you have to leave if you want to get out of the cycle of violence in the area. Some family I know live in Baltimore County and even refuse to come into the city. Where has he Charm gone and can it ever comeback? I see the pride whenever I see Baltimore mentioned or when I hear the specific accent that lets me know someone I’ve meet is from the city. But where is the pride to do something about the crime? Well, it is there.
Kim Klacik with her Red Renaissance Pac is working hard in the area. Just recently, they helped send kids to summer camp with scholarships donated at a local church. She helps with local businesses and organizations from campaigns, feeding the homeless and voter registration. Kim had an issue with prominent conservative Candace Owens over her rhetoric about Black voters, questioning her fundraising money and death threats sent to her and her kids. But after taking legal action, Kim moves on. Kim has squashed other so called beefs to team up with other grassroots organizations to get to work. One such thing she has done is she is working with Conscious Conservatives and teaming up to get candidate training.
She has an even in October dedicated to voter outreach and helping in other states where she can. But Baltimore is on her mind and there is where the bulk of her work is. Kim is coming down to Georgia, where I am currently to help with voter registration as well. She is a force that does not stop because a town or area looks “unwinnable” and she put aside some personal beefs to get to work.
Baltimore, Maryland has lots of American history and is a city that can rise from the ashes of its troubles. With the right effort on outreach, talking to residents and putting politicians in place that actual know what they doing, things can change. But it won’t happen overnight and won’t happen if we don’t try. This can be an example for other cities around the country to follow. And one day Charm city will be back to its glory.
