Baltimore Uprising
Subject
[Untitled], J.M.Giordano, Baltimore, Maryland, April 24, 2015. Preserve the Baltimore Uprising: Your Stories. Your Pictures. Your Stuff. Your History, courtesy of the photographer.
Description
On April 12, 2015, the Baltimore police arrested Freddie Gray in West Baltimore for having an “illegal knife.” The police dragged Gray to a police van and placed him unsecured in the van in leg restraints. During transport, Gray suffered serious spinal cord damage and died from the injuries on April 19. On April 18, protests over the treatment of Gray, police brutality, inequity, and historical injustice in the city began outside the Western District police station. Over the next few days, peaceful protests around the Western District continued, but tensions rose and escalated. On April 27, the worst clashes occurred after police shut down public transportation at Mondawmin Mall, stranding high school students and greeting them in riot gear. Throughout the uprising, photographers, such as Devin Allen, documented and shared images of the movement on social media creating nationwide support for the uprising. The uprising officially ended on May 3 but the effects are still felt throughout Baltimore.
Source
“Well, I’m happy to say that I was actually a part of the demonstration. The whole demonstration wasn’t just riots, but it was other productive things that was going on. I think the riot aspect was something that the media concentrated on and it took away from the good things that people were doing in terms of peaceful protest and in terms of demonstrating for better economic positions in a community, better community relations, and better relationship with our leaders.”— Ralph Eugene Johnson Jr.
“I don’t know, it seemed like my times [1960s] back was worse than it is today for real, to be honest. But we had a lot more work. The money was flowing, it was a different time. Like now, everybody just starved out and they got no money to do nothing. . . . It was work, money was flowing, it wasn’t what you hear now. You didn’t hear all these social programs and all that type of stuff. Back then we had industry, shoot it was booming.” — Leo Coleman
“I don’t know, it seemed like my times [1960s] back was worse than it is today for real, to be honest. But we had a lot more work. The money was flowing, it was a different time. Like now, everybody just starved out and they got no money to do nothing. . . . It was work, money was flowing, it wasn’t what you hear now. You didn’t hear all these social programs and all that type of stuff. Back then we had industry, shoot it was booming.” — Leo Coleman
Geolocation
Citation
“Baltimore Uprising,” Passion and Purpose, accessed April 26, 2024, https://passionandpurpose.omeka.net/items/show/19.