Category: Baltimore Community

By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham, Special to the AFRO A Baltimore police officer caught on cellphone video repeatedly punching an unarmed man is under indictment for felony assault by a Baltimore Grand Jury and turned himself in to authorities. The officer, identified as Arthur Williams, is facing charges of first degree and second-degree assault. He […]

By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFRO A mandate spawned by the death of Freddie Gray and the subsequent uprising in April 2015, is at the threshold of being delivered this month. Reviewers have just completed sifting through 427 applications, representing more than $75 million in funding requests from the City of Baltimore’s recently created Baltimore […]

By John Schmid, Special to the AFRO Hanlon Park looks like it was hit with a bomb. A great mound of dark brown earth sits in the park’s center. Jutting out of the heap are the bleaching roots of barely buried stumps. It’s the aftermath of what is left of one of a shrinking number of […]

By AFRO Staff Baltimore, like many American cities, continues to grapple with violence and crime. National Night Out, the annual community building campaign in cities and towns in all 50 states, which promotes police-community relations, is typically a welcome reprieve for many Baltimore neighborhoods. On Aug. 7, several communities across the city, including Park Heights […]

By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFRO The elders got things started Saturday afternoon on Park Heights Avenue as a diverse rainbow of community members and supporters prepared to march in celebration of Baltimore Ceasefire 365’s first year anniversary. “I like that this march started with our elder men leading the charge,” Williams, Ceasefire supporter […]

By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFRO When the architects of Baltimore Ceasefire 365 announced plans for the first ceasefire weekend in the hot, violent summer of 2017, some laughed, and others shrugged their shoulders in resignation. Few grasped the concept that city residents could pull together and transform the culture of guns and murder gripping […]