In this blog, I generally talk about my spiritual life - triumphs, struggles, etc. but I realize I don't talk much about the other pieces that make up that spiritual life and this of course includes my natural life - my job, where I live, my friends, my family. They all intersect andd meld together, but I tend to parse it out. This entry will be different. I'm going to speak on something that bothers me and I hope you'll see my heart in this.
I live in West Baltimore. I moved there with my husband when we got married and to say it was a culture shock would be an understatement. I'm as suburban as they come. I lived in Virginia Beach until I was 11, then moved to Columbia, MD - a beautiful, planned community; then Severn, MD - a community located right outside Ft Meade, and near what is now the Arundel Mills Mall. When I moved out on my own, I moved to Owings Mills, followed by Columbia again, a year before my marriage. Safe to say - I am NOT a city girl, nor have I ever lived in a community where most people had brown or black skin - just to be real.
All that being said, almost two years into living in West Baltimore, I have lear ned a lot. A lot of stereotypes about my own culture, my own people, have been defeated. I'm happy to say that. Which is why it grinds my gears when I hear about the uptick in violence in areas of the city such as Federal Hill and Hampden and the outrage behind it. This stuff has been going on in West Baltimore for YEARS, why the sudden outrage when it's now on your doorstep? It should be an outrage when it happens ANYWHERE. I pay the ridiculous city taxes just like everyone else that calls the City home. Why is it more acceptable for me to be held up than you? I read a well-meaning post of outrage that basically said, "this is not West Baltimore." No, it's not, but that shouldn't be a part of its identity no more than it should be a part of your area's identity.
I had to train my eyes to see differently. Yes, there are boarded up houses at the opposite end of my block and on North Ave. and scattered about me. I see the former glory of burnt out houses with plywood windows. I hope and pray for a return to that beauty. Down the street in Hanlon park, that beauty is alive and well.
Baltimore gets on my nerves at times, it is a tough town spiritually, I'm convinced people didn't go to driving school here, and pedestrians dare you to hit them - but it's my home. I want better for every part of it - not just the parts that are already pretty, but the parts needing much more grace. Let's not say, violence and foolishness is ok in one place, because it is pervasive. It shouldn't be welcomed or expected ANYWHERE.
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