Attendees at the first installment of The Center for Urban Families’ Community Conversation event heard details of Baltimore’s history of racial injustice.
The event, held October 1 at New Shiloh Baptist Church, was intended to be one in a three-part series that will explore the city’s history and develop solutions to the situation that caused April’s unrest.
Elizabeth Nix, assistant professor of Legal, Ethical and Historical Studies at the University of Baltimore, delivered a presentation that took attendees from Baltimore’s very beginnings as a city filled with both free and enslaved blacks, through the various historic factors that kept many of the city’s residents without adequate housing, education or jobs.
Mayoral candidate and current state senator Catherine Pugh was among the panelists who spoke following the presentation:
“It took me back to April and the unrest because when it was taking place I felt like I was just doing what I was supposed to do, because I was here every day,” she said. “My journey has always been how we improve the lives of those among us so that we improve the lives of all of us.”
Joe Jones, founder of the Center for Urban Families, said that the event was attended by a cross section of the city, including people like business owners who were affected by the unrest, service providers and community activists. He said he hoped this event, as well as the two events to come, would start a conversation among everyone who wants to improve the city.
Another event is planned for November and a third will be held in the spring. The dates for those events have not yet been set.