Baltimore has gotten a lot of attention recently for all the wrong reasons. You’ve probably read about the city’s economic struggles, with recent reports estimating that nearly a quarter of its residents live below the poverty line. Or maybe you saw reports on its failing school system, which currently graduates about 56 percent of its high school students, while the national average hovers up around 80 percent. And if you’ve somehow missed all that, you definitely know the name Freddie Gray. In April of this year, Freddie Gray was arrested for possessing what the police claim was an illegal switchblade. Seven days later, he was dead, and the frustration, fear, and…
Baltimore has gotten a lot of attention recently for all the wrong reasons. You’ve probably read about the city’s economic struggles, with recent reports estimating that nearly a quarter of its residents live below the poverty line. Or maybe you saw reports on its failing school system, which currently graduates about 56 percent of its high school students, while the national average hovers up around 80 percent.
And if you’ve somehow missed all that, you definitely know the name Freddie Gray.
In April of this year, Freddie Gray was arrested for possessing what the police claim was an illegal switchblade. Seven days later, he was dead, and the frustration, fear, and anger that had been bubbling beneath the surface in Baltimore was all over its streets.
Journalists like me rushed to the city to try and talk to angry kids with bandanas over their faces. News trucks camped out close, but not too close, to storefronts with smashed up windows. People at home sat back and watched poverty porn on TV. And we all felt okay about it because of some vagaries about raising awareness or something like that. When the news cycle ended, we decamped for the next problem and left Baltimore behind.
In this episode of Now What, we went back to Baltimore to meet some of the people that stayed behind. Specifically, we met a group of locals hell-bent on helping to fix the place they call home. The specifics of their efforts vary, but they’re united by the idea that to improve Baltimore, you need to give the next generation of kids – the ones who are growing up with violence, poverty, and police brutality as their every day – a way forward.
I’m a cynical person at my core – it’s something I’m working on. I still reflexively recoil at a lot of do-gooder types and their overwhelming, chanting positivity. But that’s not what I found in Baltimore. I saw people who were tired, frustrated, and not at all interested in glossing over the problems. But they also weren’t interested in letting any of that stop them.
Sarah, Fagan, and Chris, all of whom we meet in this episode, know the problems Baltimore is facing better than anyone. But for whatever reason, they’re able to use these obstacles that would discourage most people as motivation. They’re just wired a bit differently. I walked away from filming this episode wishing I was a little more like the three of them, but even more so, feeling thankful that Baltimore has them.
The trial of the officers in the Freddie Gray case starts next month, and the city is poised to confront its demons head-on once again. Regardless of the outcome, I know for sure Sarah, Fagan, and Chris will still be there when the dust settles, and Baltimore is better because of it.
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