People
gather Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore, in the
aftermath of rioting following Monday's funeral for Freddie Gray, who
died in police custody. Gov. Larry Hogan said at a news conference
Tuesday that Baltimore will not have a repeat of the riots that
happened on Monday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Here we go again! The City
of Baltimore Maryland riots again 36 years later. The last time was
the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. On April 12,
2015, 25 year old Freddie Gray was arrested for possession of a
switchblade which was later determined to be a lie. While in police custody and on his way to the police
station he was injured severely. He died on April 19, 2015 from
injuries to his spinal cord and larynx. The Gilmore Homes
neighborhood sparked a mass protest with the death of Freddie Gray.
After his funeral on April 27, 2015 the protest turned violent and
civil unrest ensued because the people were sick and tired of the
police. I don’t think the people of Gilmore Homes neighborhood
should have vandalize their neighborhood it only hurt themselves.
It was not only in
Baltimore where mass protests happened. Cities across the country
were protesting the injustice that has been going on for decades.
Cities like Washington D.C., Ferguson Missouri, Oakland California,
Seattle Washington, Minneapolis Minnesota, Philadelphia and New York.
Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Treyvon Martin, Oscar Grant and the
thousands of other who we have not heard of have lost their lives at
the hands of police or someone who thought they had authority. The
people aren’t standing for this type of blatant abuse of authority
anymore.
I lived in Baltimore for a
year back in the early 80’s. Back then the people in certain areas
of were always complaining about how corrupt the police were. When I
went back in 1997 it had not gotten any better. I still saw boarded
up row houses, kids hanging out when they were supposed to be in
school. The police harassing black men on the street. When my Husband
and son went back in 2009 it was still corrupt. Everything was so
separate you rarely saw white people unless you went to their
neighborhoods or out to the county of Baltimore. Coming from
California it was a real culture shock. One thing I can say is that
it was good to see white people and other nationalities peacefully
protesting with blacks and holding signs saying Black Lives Matter.
This is a nationwide
matter the Police Departments across the United States have to do a
lot better, be held accountable and stop covering up bad behavior of
police officers. This hold situation keeps on happening and people
are saying enough is enough.
LM
