Baltimore

We left Baltimore yesterday, full of mixed emotions. We were sad to have left so many amazing new friends, but also to have been with the city in the midst of so much tension, sadness and anger. Being with people of the churches and the community we experienced so much hope and potential amidst shock and confusion. It was early days, there didn’t seem to be much space for people to reflect in the midst of that world, things were constantly volatile. On Saturday we had joined with volunteers from across the neighbourhood to board up some of the shop fronts that had been destroyed by riots. There was a huge sense of hope of so many giving up their time to join in solidarity and service for the community. At the same time that morning, just four blocks away, a local shop owner was fatality shot. A city is always full of contradictions but in a time of such extreme emotion those contradictions are experienced like someone screaming right up in your face.

Yesterday folks from Church on the Square joined with hundreds across Baltimore to protest again. This time it was not a protest to necessarily change the government or powers that be – the district attorney had already made a moving statement to pronounce that justice would continue to be fought for Freddie Gray and his family. This it was a protest of solidarity to change ourselves and our future, to end a culture of fear, of poverty and of racism. The protest went from the Northwest District through to the Southeast, inviting neighborhoods normally segregated by poverty and race to walk together. This was a march to simply be together as people who shared hope for each other and the city. A few hours later the curfew was lifted.

It is still early days for Baltimore and the city certainly needs our prayers. However I think I have learnt that we need to pray for ourselves also; for the prejudices and divisions, contradictions and wars that happen in our cities and in our hearts, often in silence. It was out of those same problems that happen all over the world that Baltimore’s current situation exploded.