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Preachers, gangs, politicians, the Nation of Islam and a rainbow of social-justice groups are all poised for the “fix,” but will Baltimore really emerge reborn?
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has not yet released details of what her One Baltimore will do, but members of the clergy are arranging prayer calls and making plans to open their doors in the summer for nonsectarian educational programs and recreation. They are also organizing to lobby state legislators on school budgets, prison reform and other measures.
A frame of reference for much of what is now taking place is 1968, when rioting led to a spurt of governmental largesse and civic activism, much of it focused on the Sandtown area. More than $130 million was earmarked for housing alone, but according to an investigative report in the Baltimore Sun, no one can account for how quite a bit of that money was spent, and Sandtown shows little sign of long-term benefits.
