This baltimore forum is boooorring!!!

[Infinite_heights77]

Steel is not ready to have this conversation! He's still thinks Blacks are out to get him and his family. LOL!

Originally Posted by Tinawina

Nope.

Baltimore Is Not Ferguson. Here's What It Really Is : NPR

For The Record: The Voices Of Baltimore : NPR

There have been several articles, even before the charges were levied against the officers, where people interviewed the actual residents of West Baltimore (not the talking heads or the "leaders" from outside the city), where people on the street specifically said this was not about race but about distrust of police and of the government in general to do the right thing. They felt they had been unfairly targeted and harassed by police for a long time and that no one cared.


Most of what they said was confirmed elsewhere, but probably most thoroughly here:
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2...more-s-anguish

So no. Despite people trying to tack this onto their particular cause of white cops/black males, despite right wing sites trying to hype a "race war", none of that is true in this case. In Baltimore at least, this is much more about aggressive policing that threw basic rights out the window a long time ago, in a section of the city that's been left to rot in extreme poverty and the drug trade it spawned for decades, while (mostly) corrupt politicians focused on lining their own pockets, and (mostly) residents who don't live in these areas ignore it and focus on trying not to get robbed, and too many residents who do live in these areas gave up and gave in to the forces around them. There's all kinds of blame to go around. Is race and racism mixed up in this? Absolutely yes. But is that all this is about? Absolutely not.

I feel like no one wants to just admit to their part in this mess, and contribute what they can from where they are to fix it. Instead, everyone wants to point blame at someone else.

[Infinite_heights77]

"So here is where I would begin - audits. A lot of aid comes to Baltimore, a lot of money. Where does it go? Who spends it on what? how is it accounted for.."

*Those Empowerment Zone funds, resources for schools, lottery is being stolen from the city's crooks and gangsters, both black, and white, male and female. The money never gets to certain communities because it is stolen from the same people who run the city and state. The powers that be really don't want African American communities to have resources because it takes away from them obtaining and sustaining their own. Baltimore is a crimogenic city! It breeds criminals from all walks, colors and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Originally Posted by dogpark

Spot on Tina, not directly about race, although it is a factor (long simmering thru policy over a century span).

In regards to the part of your quote I bolded - yes, leaders/institutions do not know where to start, this problem and cycle are so big, so long running that it is tough to ferret out a beginning.

So here is where I would begin - audits. A lot of aid comes to Baltimore, a lot of money. Where does it go? Who spends it on what? how is it accounted for? Although in a just world it would be nice to hold perpetrators accountable for malfeasance, what is really needed is a change to best practices, efficiency now, right now. We don;t need another study, more consultants etc - we need to know where resources are going, find the waste and fraud and put that money to work doing measurable works. This is one of the wealthiest states in one of the wealthiest countries in the world - why is there so much apathy, neglect, poverty, crumbling infrastructure? We can't fund some rec centers for Christ's sake??? Really???

[B.K.]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

Man, I always see Mr. Waters around the town?

Back when I was still doing the bar scene, I saw John Waters around town often (I also worked at the Club Charles for many years). He was always friendly and approachable, unless with a group of his Hollywood friends.
Last time we met was several years ago while having drinks at the Rendezvous Lounge on 25th St before a show at the Ottobar. He was half-lit, and trying to pick up a piece of much younger rough-trade from Hamden who obviously had no idea who he was.