Stooping is basically stopping to sit on your doorstep, or other people’s doorstep or porch and chat. In the case of Church on the Square (as you can see from the photo) we basically brought all the furniture onto the pavement and had a party with live music, food and drink. People might walk around the neighbourhood to ‘stoop’ with other folks, to have a drink or eat and pass the night away.
The stoop-out has a few aims. The first is to connect with each other in the community, to talk about what has been happening in Baltimore and how people feel about that and to build confidence again in each other. The stoop out brings people out of their houses, challenging fears and offers people space to talk about their feelings.A map was created with other hang-outs throughout the neighbourhood, with live links on facebook. Local businesses joined in to try and get trade going in a really hard week.
Many of the local businesses have suffered through the riots - some suffering through stolen stock, fires and smashed windows - others through the curfew that has been enforced on the city from 10pm-5am. Bars and restaurants need to ensure employees are home by 10pm and consequently places close early and people just don’t come out to eat and drink in the evening. One bar owner told us he took $16 the previous evening. The stoop-out encouraged people to buy food from local businesses and take-out from the square before coming together to chat.
The stoop-out not only gave space for people to talk about the news and the community, it made some noise in a city square that is usually noisy on a Friday night! It wasn’t a protest, these have been happening throughout the last few days - but this it was a chance to dialogue with each other and journey together. Doing this gave people in the community a reason to smile and a chance to connect, to turn off the news reports and remember the people in their road as they continue to strive for justice and hope for their city's future.
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