A visit to Baltimore City & a practical take away on how people ought to treat each other.
By: Justin Williams
Baltimore has always held a sincerely special place in my heart. Growing up, I often took the train to Charles street and would find peace in solace as I explored the charming art galleries, museums, cafes, bookstores, and festivals. An air of excellence and inspiration covers the city in all of its beauty and tragedy. Out of struggle, black and brown folk that dwell in “ The greatest city of America” always find a way to keep on.
Currently I am not writing from the historic architecture of Baltimore- but from across the street from where the constitution was ratified. Delaware is cozy and a quiet place . There's absolutely no hills North or South, yet a calm body of water waits as I peer into the past and a promise of a better future, if -one can learn to be with one's thoughts Delaware can be a place called home.
Oftentimes however, as a 23 year old young adult striving for a better day, I need to be surrounded by life outside of the whirl slowly streaming within my mind. So I took to Baltimore for a weekend. In jubilee with other caribbeans at Carnival- it was astoundly beautiful to see the deep rich hues of black skin contrasted by vibrant colors soaking up the sun's warm extension. So simple- yet encaptivating and culturally rich.
Life lessons are all around us, all the time. You just have to find them. During this brief period of stay in a city less than two hours driving from my quaint studio- so much was learned in a 48 hour window of seemingly entering a different world. I'd like to share my lessons learned from the contrasting experiences of the drowsy and peaceful rural lifestyle I live in Delaware, vs my arousing weekend stay in the charming City of Baltimore.
One of the first things many individuals know about Baltimore is the accent. And over the years, it seems as though it is evolving and becoming more and more distinct and impactful. So how does being born in an environment that holds a particular virnacular and cadence effect the quality of life and professional outcomes?
According to the library of medicine, in their article “ neighborhood effects on use of African American english” - “ Rising U.S residential economic segregation may be contributing to growing differences within the population in AAVE use, which has benefits to in- group solidarity & identity but is associated with discrimination in schools, work places, and may exaxerate the disadvantages of youth growing up in high poverty area.”
This understanding that there is a causation between dialect and income has been systematically produced, yet very often missed during conversations surrounding corporate culture, the housing market, & schools in the inner city Black American communities. W.E.B Du Bois has never been more correct in his writing surrounding double consciousness. As it has become imperative and unfortunately normailized to master code switching in order to enter the grips of the corportate world.
Using myself as a subject- In Delaware I'm passed by, bumped, & starred as if I am made of glass. It would be a postulous generalization to say this overt micro-aggressive disrespect happens all the time, however, in all fairness- a great amount of my day to day interactions are regarded in this manner.
In Baltimore- the level of respect appears to be higher. No one bumps me, distance is held at a comfortable level, folk on the street actually say excuse me, & I'm even called sir a lot.
The perplexing aspect of the stark contrast between the levels of respect is that I am the same person, yet, I accomplished more in Delaware than I did in Baltimore. Meaning, there is no caution between achievement and the level of respect in the drowsy land of rural Delaware. I’m left to presume that yes- indeed. Delaware is a land where man or woman is not judged not by the quality of character, achievement or spirit. And may be limited to a pedagogy encapsulating the vast majority of 68.7 % of the Delaware population of whom were born and raised in the environment that breeds such a perspective of consciousness within a human body.
Perhaps Baltimore has accumulated a collective resilience from estranged cynicism and cruelty to some extent- throughout history, - it reminds me of a tale rooted in boeotia, when I see young saturnine men within the City, tall and strong, run the race in an attempt to outrun Hippomenes in order to earn her hand in marriage which led to a passionate curse in love. If the journey of becoming in manhood is not named " Baltimore." It should have been. I see a lot of myself in the young men, also known as “ squeegee boys” We do it all for the money and it shows. Reflecting on “ A Soul of Black Folk “ By W.E.B Du bois, we all have dreams of a material life filled with prosperity as a cornerstone of our success; this idea has spread since the industrial revolution and has been expedited by the development of a digitized lifestyle. This pursuit of wealth is not inherent in many areas of the beautiful city and further explains the economic struggle of many underserved communities, lamenting the beauty and resilience of their spirits to simply greet one another and strangers alike with manners and integrity. Not only does this hold true in the City of Baltimore,but in many cities across the country. But no city is like Baltimore. The music, food, fashion, dialect, etc are all unmatched.
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