Baltimore, the Forgotten City, My City

Baltimore holds an ingrained and sacred place in my heart. It is the city that raised me.

Baltimore is America, strong at its best and flailing at its worst

Throughout the city, there are certain twists and turns that make you forget homeowners and green grass exist.

Explore further, the city reveals more.

Baltimore is bursting with artisan markets.  Hometown sports fanatics are everywhere. Sprouting community farms and high school pride and rivalries.  The farmer’s markets and cookouts are first class.  You can’t grow up in Baltimore without attending roller skate parties. Great parks are plentiful like generations of families,  groundbreaking research, amazing universities, and genuine people.

Forgotten Opioid Crisis

Baltimore is a complex city trying to climb out of its forgotten opioid crisis.  Devasted by the mixed results bag of the war on drugs.  Riddled with escalating crime and lowering population.  The current state of schools is easily labeled as un-education. Corrupt politicians of the past and present as well as questionable school funding.  The city lost many jobs during deindustrialization.  A great five-part radio series of Baltimore’s experience with deindustrialization and possible ways to move forward can be found here.  Replaced by low wage paying service jobs that don’t enhance economic mobility.

Baltimore is the forgotten America that so many states are currently fighting to not become.

Historically, drug use in Baltimore was treated as criminal activity.  Currently, more Americans of all races and economic backgrounds are affected by the drug epidemic.  Overdoses reached an all-time high and the US government humanized its tone on drug abuse. In some states addiction is no longer a crime but an illness.

Addicts in Baltimore, who also happened to mostly be black and poor, weren’t treated as functioning members of society who needed medical attention.  They were put in jail, creating a domino effect.

We live in a capitalist society.  Drug use created an illicit market with fledgling economic opportunities.   The drug market provides an endless source of income and criminals to keep the for-profit criminal system rolling. Jails and criminal records for addicts and their dealers.  I am not a crime buff, but this doesn’t seem like a positive environment.

Income created from criminal activity often leads to violence.  This may be the exact reason Baltimore is one of the most violent cities in the United States.  If no city has been an example of what decriminalizing drug use could potentially do or have done for its constituents, Baltimore is one of them.

I remember the crack epidemic like yesterday.

Crack hit the city like thunder. Walking through the drug vials created fear and a sense of tragedy.  Going to the park and stepping over broken pieces of glass is an unforgotten nightmare.

It is hard understanding how my friend’s parents and personal family members could become someone foreign and unknown.  The crack epidemic was unreal. So many people already struggling mentally or financially were now addicted to a devastating drug.  How it all happened, I don’t know.

In the eyes of a child, it seemed like an overnight event.  One day I walked down a street of abandoned buildings the next week they were crack houses.  Seeing the addicts and the newly created market was mentally scarring.

Most of my generation with the ability to plan was scheming on their way to get out of the city.  Dreaming of doing better and going further than the city to not become a statistic.

It all seems unfair.  Why should anyone living in America feel the need to escape their city to do better?

Growing up in a city with less than its surrounding neighbors makes it easy to understand third world countries.  It makes you understand their desire to be in a new environment. We all want the opportunity to attain more.

Baltimore helps me understand other American citizens who believe they are forgotten and want to fight for change and new leaders.  It has taught me to listen and try to understand their plight. Baltimore gifted me with the power to not feel better than anyone and believe that each living being has something of value to offer.  Baltimore makes me humble and aware.  Eyes wide open to what is happening around me and living with a mindset of how do I and not who can do it for me.

After the crack epidemic came heroin, a silent monster.  While people on crack appeared to have endless energy and be in a state of constant paranoia, heroin created zombies. People are shells of themselves and no one appeared to care.

People forgot about Baltimore, and it cuts like a knife.

In recent news, Baltimore is a hot topic.  The president of the United States described the city as rat-infested and a place where no one would want to live.  Yet, so many people live there.

I can’t imagine being a child and living out my daily life in a situation that I already know is not glorious and then singled out by the president.

Am I that different?  Is everyone that much better than me?  Why am I in this situation?  These are many questions that can pass through a child’s head and possibly provide damaging cause and effect to their future.

The president is not wrong in stating that some of the living situations in the city are deplorable.  He is however negligent in his delivery of the message. The city of Baltimore has long needed a plan.   It is not unlike many other cities that have lost jobs due to deindustrialization or been victim to drugs and violence.  Education is a priority in Maryland and Baltimore continues to struggle in this area.  Why?  I don’t know the answer to this question, but I want to.

What is causing Baltimore’s issues?

Is it due to poverty?  What is causing the poverty? Is it due to parents being paid low wages who will also never advance because of a lack of education?

Can children really excel when their home environment is unstable?

Where are the parents?

Did the war on drugs lead to so many single-parent female homes?

Have parents disappeared because of Baltimore’s long ignored and constantly evolving drug crisis?

Is it due to faulty politics? Is it due to apparent segregation?

Why is Hampden so different than North Ave?

Where are the taxes to make things better?

Why does Baltimore have the highest property taxes in the state of Maryland if they want to promote growth in the city?

How can investors sit on dilapidated properties and not bring them up to code or livable standards?

Why is lead still a problem?

Is Baltimore’s crisis due to people fleeing the city as soon as they can do better? Is it due to a loss of hope?  There isn’t one answer to Baltimore’s layered and diverse problems.

Some love and live in Baltimore out of choice. While others stay because like so many other Americans, they are either too poor or too limited in resources and opportunity to leave.

Baltimore city is rich in culture, spirit, activity and creating opportunity.

Along with the memories of unabashed drug use, and a city under duress lie memories of laughter and amazing life experiences.

Baltimore gifted me with so much life

Baltimore gave me operas, plays, crabs, musicals, family and piano lessons.  I experienced  African dance lessons, museums, great food, and festivals. The city is as distinct as the Baltimore club music and accent. Black excellence, pride and empowered women make up every corner.  The city sports programs give people a way out and are full of amazing male coaches. Home to unique educational opportunities, laughter, inspiration and a resounding strength.

With everything, the city lacks we must embrace the cities strengths, and Baltimore has many.  The artistic scene is second to none.  Culture is not only accessible but affordable.  Beautiful homes and neighborhoods exist. Baltimore’s beauty is in the nooks and crannies.

I too fled the city

After high school, I set out on the first thing smoking to experience a new environment.  I visit on occasion and shake my head at the contrast from one community to the next.  I am proud to be from Baltimore. The city made me well rounded and flexible.  Baltimore helped me appreciate life and provided me with an edge. That edge continues to get me through every day.  I can live in anybody’s version of America and survive. Baltimore showed me the importance of family and supportive friends.

Baltimore exposes the wealth gap

Growing up I had dreams of college.  As the child of the upper lower class, that also means I am a student of debt. One who will be paying, probably forever, for my desire to achieve a piece of the American dream.

Baltimore was forgotten.  It’s unfair to ignore a city as it falls economically due to deindustrialization and poor urban development. Ignore the generational poverty and multiple drug crisis’ and then publicly shame it for its lack of shining progress.

I am Baltimore, therefore Baltimore is a part of me. What I can do for my city before it becomes a real estate project?  How can I assist with progress? What steps will create sustainable gains for those who have less and not push them further into the cracks?

If you have any ideas for the city, please share.