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Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sydney Cook Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Kendra Dunbar Location The location of the interview MdHS Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound No Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 56:40 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Kendra Dunbar interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Kendra Dunbar interviewed by Sydney Cook Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sydney Cook for the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 05/03/2017 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/e4be60f3e70a7eb2035b6a63c2ef2e14.mp3 d8b01c1d5ab8ee8a70b691a7b3885664 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/a8af405fa7f983e3edf39d3a0dcdbc6d.mp3 bef9399db5bbdf0a7e1de11d547986b8 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/156105a0f8109da96c51868891101543.PDF ba19e7485246cb8be0a2de5c73bce45a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sydney Cook Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Lynn Hunter Location The location of the interview MdHS Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound No Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:02:20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lynn Hunter interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Lynn Hunter interviewed by Sydney Cook Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sydney Cook for Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 06/15/2017 Language A language of the resource MP3, PDF https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/fde399fcf5cf2fc46f9be2751859b3e9.mp3 54d7d4a4f82face76d649c2634f675b7 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/5fb1d26cfe0f2a0b80835f32af64f271.mp3 90b0676641f72bc32c2544ae90968257 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/63de99c66420ead21ff7823898e3a786.mp3 074ec09cc5294cdaf60ca853fbe4e3b6 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/d52a695bbb9dbc2e55ed8b87b09435ce.JPG 7b23d227b4df81bb8b664a2af4aa85fc https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/b61ed2e8751fc328f4a7a5ce3a4565bf.pdf 022aca1c8e7011d3b59ac395359745d5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. 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Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sydney Cook Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Clayton Williams Location The location of the interview MdHS Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound No Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:46:00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clayton Williams interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Clayton Williams interviewed by Sydney Cook Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sydney Cook for the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 04/05/2017 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/31eaf398dfca9efd00de58b4b7d851e2.mp3 5aa58ec0e944c2a0504f61f6e07b6402 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/52517b0595eff919a61e1d459b7c84c7.pdf a117f9781e91321513807bcca0df712c https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/3dd96a7b2ea6749abb8d7bf6299a1f2a.pdf 0a8e8c860d0121f20a61ab55b667505a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sterling Warren Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Dr. Lester Spence Location The location of the interview Johns Hopkins University Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 34:06 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Lester Spence interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Dr. Lester Spence interviewed by Sterling Warren Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sterling Warren for Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 03/16/2017 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/a389ddf79f2051aaadb0c4c796fc21fd.mp3 ae0aab0726a569b628db98eb41f64bc8 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/cdfcf964b2d951787196b8050969dbc0.pdf 8d8a7900b118d51aa5c054ba6139ce71 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/90cd27489562a47feb5cccf23a38c787.pdf ca18196b390b9287a7a48d18c59a0e10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sterling Warren Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Khadija Nia Adell Location The location of the interview Maryland Historical Society Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 62:14 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Khadija Nia Adell interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Khadija Nia Adell interviewed by Sterling Warren Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sterling Warren for Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 02/22/2017 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/da898a3ea8490f1265a7a670a45cc5e1.mp3 ac45e8902658971d951bf5a86c897f19 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/bcb2aed7d6518dd19468406cc4c5b886.pdf 91124dfa77f6bb694523b75fab3a9cb2 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/d8da7df4ae0a5462d2ece8059631b826.pdf a941e8b844a4f847907f4db518d652a4 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/3f751fe6ad8d228093e8ad842cfcc99d.jpg 30011bdcd127ee5005582d43a632425d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sterling Warren Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Jordannah Elizabeth Location The location of the interview Maryland Historical Society Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 59:08 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jordannah Elizabeth interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Jordannah Elizabeth interviewed by Sterling Warren Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 02/23/2017 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sterling Warren for Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/7f0657e6755a3f138471facae61854a0.mp3 4bb5137ef41af5bb0ce95808ee7e41f0 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/4b76ffff8824df2f1fd625f5e2ce2310.pdf ba6ea047d0e215fad61d3787fae1bd26 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/a661a1ce1c134fdb3613a7d12515b97a.pdf e60b4332b5cb993ecd8c1b3735253652 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sterling Warren Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Dr. Jared Ball Location The location of the interview Morgan State University Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 61:17 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Jared Ball interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Dr. Jared Ball interviewed by Sterling Warren Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 03/08/2017 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sterling Warren for Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/f1bed8c97934e2617ca3be6a8f58491b.mp3 a62292add77a50bbe1182bc4810c9337 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/1ad588e54adc28e5709c027e89fba053.JPG 954639a141bbb23b911f1ff840285c6d https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/ea76eb841c5233e8604b1f3b4aec5aab.pdf 6325834e679bf60926c9602b1fc1b665 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/becdf3e60a7241ec9a97fbebd0cf82e7.pdf dd2b263dbd81056c56b630664288be44 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sterling Warren Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Eze Jackson Location The location of the interview MdHS Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 55:20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Eze Jackson interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Eze Jackson interviewed by Sterling Warren Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sterling Warren for Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 3/9/2017 Baltimore Major Briscoe music Reservoir Hill Stephanie Rawlings-Blake https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/6fcfbca6ec991f0d4b2aaad38ae7e05d.mp3 c5d4647377783cee8dfaf00c63e71ac1 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/b783f74e678c7b59b1a8bdaa4b6ab747.JPG 478149af5e1975acb76ae75240612675 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/a587b2df747de3a78b90fb2526378949.pdf 5f4c474290c1dc041d5d608d9b85c505 PDF Text Text Preserve the Baltimore Uprising 2015 Online Archive Transcription of Sherele and Rev. Cortly D. Witherspoon interview Sha’Von Terrell: ​Good morning. I have Sha’Von Terrell interviewing Rev. C. D Witherspoon, and his wife Sherele Witherspoon at the Maryland Historical Society on Wednesday, December 7th at 12 o’clock (noon). We are here for the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising 2015 online archive project. Um...can you explain where you are from originally and where do you currently reside? Rev. Cortly Witherspoon: ​Sure. I am born and raised right here in Baltimore, west Baltimore in particular. I had to make sure I mentioned that. Sherele Witherspoon: ​I am a resident born and raised here in Baltimore. I use to live in south Baltimore, but I live in the Sandtown community right now. Sha’Von: ​Can you describe race relations in Baltimore before and after the uprising? Rev. C.D: ​I think that quite frankly, what we deal with in Baltimore city is systemic and constructional racism. And I think that it is racism that is really interwoven into the fabric of Baltimore city. Uh..we see this racism when we look at the condition of our communities. We see it when we look at the inundation of vacant and abandoned housing. The proliferation of joblessness, and even when we see the highest instances of poverty. We see that predominately African-American people live in those particular communities. Although, we recognize that there are poor White people, as well. So.uh..I think that racism is very much alive and well. I have a mentor, who a long time ago said Jim Crow senior was dead, but the Jim Crow Jr. was very much alive and well; and I think that he is indeed alive and well in the city of Baltimore. Sherele: ​I would like to add that as the race relationships in Baltimore has always been a divide, but it is more prevalent and that racism really lives here in Baltimore. And it is segregated, and we can see it in our school systems. We can see it in our communities, and even with us out here trying to be activists fighting for our communities you can see the racism and hatred that comes against us while we try to organize and fight for our communities. Rev. C.D: ​And if I can pick it back up, real quick. When my wife indicated segregation, she is absolutely correct. Baltimore city is known at this particular junction, not 1965, but in 2016 for having hypersegregated communities is what they refer to. Neighborhoods that of course are predominately African-American and neighbors that are predominantly White and you’ll find that the neighborhoods that are predominantly African-American unfortunately there are five zip codes in the city where they lead the top for lead paint poisoning. Where they lead the top for crime and violence. Where they lead the top STDs or a variety of different socio-economic issues that directly impact the African-American communities. So we have hypersegregated communities, and �communities that are, because they are segregated they..um.. do not receive the same level of services. Um..Dr. King uh..before Brown. Vs. Board of Education initiated in 1954, the demand was separate but equal. The problem is we never got equal, but we continue to be separate. Integration was something that worked partially, but the benefits of integration, especially since our institutions we never made equal can be put into question. Our institutions were never ever made equal, as a result of Brown vs. Board of Education. Our schools are still lagging behind predominately white schools. The conditions of our school physically in terms of structurally are falling apart. As so even in spite of Brown vs. Board of Education, and my family was a Plaintiff in Brown vs. Board of Education in Clarinet County, South Carolina. We still see disparities, and what we wanted was equal education for our children. Sherele: ​And you know recently, I got to input this, it’s not even just in our schools. It’s also in our hospitals. If you go to a hospital in the city, and then go to one in the county like..uh..GBMC or St. Joseph compared to Maryland General or Sinai hospital, you can see the difference in quality of services that we are given in our community besides the once that are given outside of our community. Sha’Von: ​That’s so true, and when you think about it it’s not even a city or localized problem. It is across the states, because it is also like that..I went to Tuskegee University and I um..didn’t teach but volunteered at the schools, and the books that they had, well Tuskegee is a predominantly Black city, and the books that they had were falling apart. You would have to make copies out of the books for the students, and you wonder why the students are not engaged anymore in the classrooms. Um..So what is your experiences like living in Baltimore as Black, as being black? Rev. C.D: ​ Well again..I think that the neighborhoods are hypersegregated, and I think that when you look at the type of resources that are given to the community, and the quality of services that are provided and offered to the communities; I think that you see a certain elevated level in the quality of services to White communities and it is devastating, and it is glaring and apparent. A case and point. There was a situation not long ago, where a woman and a higher...that came from a community with a higher economic bracket, unfortunately she was murdered. Certainly, we sympathize with what happened to that lady, because one life loss is to many. But what we saw was….we saw police officers marching up and down the streets in Rolling Park; because it is a higher economic-and community. But we don’t know when the last time we seen officers walking the beat in our communities, and if we had officers walking the beat they may have a better relationship with the community. So, we see these type of disparities all the time, and we see them in such a glaring way whether it’s in terms of people who are returning citizens, who are coming home, and trying to get housing, but they can’t get housing because of their criminal record, which is nothing more than a redline policy. It is similar to having to count jelly beans, in order to be able to register to vote or people who are applying for jobs and before they even go for the job, they get their credit report again that is another red line issue. So, what we are looking at is again a system of �systematic and structural racism. So much so often times, it is not really about who is the Mayor or who is the Governor, because there is a system of racism that is in place even before that person gets into office. Sherele: ​And as for growing up as an African-American person in America is devastating. In that because of the color of my skin that I am liable to be targeted, because I am Black. I, we, have a seven year old, and he is a little boy and we have to teach him early about what is really going on in our communities. I look at my community and I see some people who are not aware of what my husband just said these policies that are put in place to keep us down. When we are all born in America and we just want to survive and watch out children grow up, but something about our skin color makes us a target and that shouldn’t be. Again, we didn’t ask to come here. Our ancestors were brought here on slave ships, and it is not our fault that we are here. If they would have left us alone in Africa, we would've able to survive and do what we need to do. But for some reason, I think they know the power that we have, if we come together and unify and that is why we are target because if we just really focus on one goal, and we come together on that goal, then we can accomplish it. It is really just sad though to just be a target, because of the color of your skin. Dr. King also talk about the content of your character, but they don’t even get to acknowledge who you are as a person. I have two degrees in accounting, but I joined the fight for activism and protesting systematic injustices and police brutality, because at the time I didn’t have children. I had family members, four nephews, and I feel like they have two targets: first they’re male and then they’re black. So, I have to fight for them, because police brutality is alive and well. People don’t even go to jail for killing people, and that shouldn’t be. Police should be held at a standard. If they kill someone, they should be incarcerated, and this police brutality should stop. Sha’Von: ​That’s true. So, my last question is um..do you all have any personal experiences with police brutality? Have anyone ever came to speak with you all about their experiences? Rev. C.D: ​First of all, I have an experience that I would never forget. I think it happened probably just before or around the time that Freddie Gray was murdered. I was walking on Edmondson Ave. I will never forget. I was walking on Edmondson Ave. in West Baltimore not far from my home, and an officer approached me and stopped me and told me that I looked like a suspect. I looked like a suspect, and I asked him, I said, do you have a picture of the suspect, and can you describe to me what the suspect look like. And he could not tell me what the suspect looked like. He couldn’t tell me the suspect’s description, and could not convince me that he was looking for a person legitimately, and so that certainly was an experience of racial profiling. Police brutality, I tell you I wish that I had less stories. We have talked to drug dealers, who told us that they they had been robbed by members of the Baltimore City police department. We have talked to women who say they have been sexually assaulted by members of the Baltimore City Police department. We have talked to young people who stated that they have been taken from Baltimore city to other jurisdictions and have their shoes taken off �and had their money taken from them, so they had no way to get back home. So, we have heard from people about criminal instances at the hands of police, and so my take on those type of situations is that again, as my wife indicated police offices need to be held to the same standard. They need to be stop being protected by the shield, because I think really what happening is people are becoming police offices and almost if though it exonerates them from penalty under the law. You know we are hearing about sexual assaults, no one is being held accountable for that. We are seeing murders, no one is being held accountable for that. We are hearing about drug dealers being robbed, no one is being held accountable for that. We are even hearing about police officers who participate personally in Baltimore’s drug trade, and no one is being held accountable for that. We have to end the double standard between the citizens and the police particularly in the city that had a women’s detention center, they call it baby bookings the juvenile detention center, and uh..they have one for the men as well. We have too many people who are being arrested every single day for crimes that police officers are not even indicted for. Sherele: ​I had a situation when I was 19 years old, and I had I was being a little unruly, I was singing. I wouldn’t even call it unruly. I was just singing a song, and the song was by NWA, and a police was across the street and I got arrested and charged with disorderly conduct because I was singing a song. While I was incarcerated the uh..police officer pulled my hair out, pulled my hair, uh..ruffed me up..like they didn’t punch me or anything. They like pushed their bodies on me and pulled my hair out, and I was really upset about the situation, but then I was afraid at the same time like..if I pressed charges against police officers what is really going to happen to me? At the time I wasn’t really aware about police brutality, even because you didn’t get killed or shot by a police or beat down by police that is still a part of police brutality, because that shouldn’t have happened; mind you, it wasn’t by a female, it was by men on the women’s side of the holding cell. Recently, almost three years ago, two years ago, it was a situation with Tyrone West who was brutally murdered by the Baltimore City police department, and they really like tased him, and then they tried to cover it up by cutting pieces of his body out, so that um..you couldn't tell that he was actually tased. And that is like some really wicked stuff that sometimes police do to people, and I just couldn’t understand why they cut pieces of his body out, after they killed him. It’s like inhumane you know with the stuff that happen here in Baltimore. But, it is just not here in Baltimore, it is worldwide this police brutality. It is running wild and I don’t know why the President isn't really saying anything to stop police brutality. I don’t understand why the FOP is like a club of slave catchers, that is what the formed from slave catches, and I think that is why African-Americans and people of color are being targeted by these police officers because they still believe that we are slaves and they suppose to be slave catches and we don’t have rights as citizens of the United States of America. And again like I said this is not just in Baltimore, you know the guy that was shot in South Carolina, in the back by the police, Walter Scott, he got off free. This has to stop. Someone has to be accountable, and they keep talking about trying to get the NRA to take guns off of the street but the police are the ones who are running around with tasers, guns, and people are unarmed. So...yeah. This has to stop. �Sha’Von: ​So are you all a part of any social and/or political organizations or movements here? Rev. C.D: ​Sure, um..five years ago, actually it’s longer than that now, 6 years ago we reactivated the Baltimore Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Um..founded nationally by the Honorable Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to simply heighten the level of Civil rights activism in Baltimore city. About four years ago, there was a partnership that developed between the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and what was then the All People’s Congress to found the People’s Power Assembly, and the People’s Power Assembly has been at the forefront of vast majority of the rallies in relationship to demanding justice for Freddie Gray, but also justice for Anthony Anderson and Tyrone West and George King and the litany unfortunately unarmed nonthreatening African-American men who have been killed, and increasingly women at the hands of the police. I am also a former candidate for President of the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP. Sherele: ​I am a member of SCLC as well as PPA. I recently been elected as secretary of the NAACP here in Baltimore city. Sha’Von: ​What inspired you activism within the community? [18:50] Rev. C.D: ​I am..I began my activism, I was 12 years old. I attended a predominantly white school in Baltimore County. I was scheduled to go to William H. Lamel and my mother took me to the school to enroll, and when she looked around there was somethings that she was not pleased with. So, she said like many many parents did particularly at that time she moved us to the county hoping that opportunities will be better. Um..with that being said I went to __ Middle School, and it was a predominately white school at the time, and when I went there because I was very culturally aware as a result of my mother..um..bringing us very progressive reading material. Um..I remember reading about Chaka Zulu and Queen of Sheba and various different historical experiences within the African American diaspora, and when I went to the school Black History month approached and there was nothing scheduled to recognize Black History Month. I thought this was egregious and an atrocity and I was just floored, and as a result of that I went to a teacher and I expressed my concern about it. The teacher told me to write a letter, and I wrote the letter not knowing that this teacher had some sort of affiliation with the Baltimore County NAACP; and he took that letter after I wrote it, and he shared it with the NAACP in Baltimore county. The President called me on the phone, I was eating dinner with my mother, and he said I heard about this letter that you had wrote, and he said what are you plans to do about it. I said that I have absolutely no plans; I’m 12 years old and i’m in middle school. He said that you have to put together a plan, and as a result of that um..with the assistance of my mother and the support of the NAACP and of 2 teachers, a African-American Science teacher named Mr. Willie Ward, and a White teacher named Mr. Bob, I forget his first name. And I put together a um..PA announcements where for the entire month I talked about a different �African American and what contribution that African American made to the entire African American experience. Also, I was instrumental in forming the Black awareness club at that school, which created the opportunity for other groupings of people, other religious and ethnic groups to create similar organizations at the schools. That organization is still around today at the school, and that program with the African American contribution over the PA system is still at that school. Then I got sidetracked with learning about girls and experiencing life and all that good stuff, but when I was 17 years old I had just graduated from high school. I will never forget. I came down here, downtown, to get a bean pie, and across the street from Lexington Market and I got a copy of the Final Call. And when I got a copy of the Final Call, I read about Raynard Johnson who was a teenager who had been lynched in Cocoma, Mississippi in response to him kissing a White girl. It completely devastated me because I know Emmett Till shared a similar fate, but that was so many years ago. I was saying to myself at 17 that here we are, it was 1999, I was remember the year. Here we are in 1999 with the same things that happened in 1955 that are happening today, and so I remember running down to the radio station, when the radio station use to be located on St. Paul Street, and I walked in and said this is devastating we got to get on the radio and you all need a youth perspective to say everything that is happening here. To make the long story short, there is a lady who still works at the radio station today, Mrs. Tony. She called a radio commentator by the name of Donnie Glover, and he told me that he would meet with me, as a result of that he dispatched me out to write for 2 newspapers at that time; one was the Pennsylvania Avenue review, and there was a newspaper for Sandtown as well. So, i started writing for both of those newspapers and I started to do some radio a tiny bit and that is how stuff started for me. I was devastated with what happened to Raynard Johnson and I deeply thought that with so much time passing and nothing changing that it was time for a new guard to be actively be involved and engaged and to pick up the baton from people that I have read about, when I was a child, like Dr. King and Malcolm X and Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer and it was time to step up. Sherele: ​You know for me, Dr. King has always been my hero from a youth. I remember being 5 years old talking about Dr. King. We use to sing a song about Dr. King in my household and I was on my way in 2013 to college and I saw this posting talking about we need volunteers for this March to Washington. It had a picture of Dr. King, and so I called to volunteer and this handsome man right here answered the phone, and I said how can I help and he told me about the meeting. Eventually later that day after I came from school, I went to the meeting and I joined the forces to be an activist and also, found the love of my life as well. We got married, and so that is how I joined the fight. And so I remembered I had to fight because I had young enough reasons at the time and we needed the change and I was willing to come out on the front line and people say that why didn't you just go and work and because my heart has always been to fight for those who can't fight for themselves, so that is why i'm an activist. [26:22] Sha’Von: ​Ok. Can you share any of your activism projects in Baltimore? �Rev. C.D: ​Um.. I think that there are so many because there are so many cases unfortunately of police brutality. The case that will always stand out in my heart and in my mind is Anthony Anderson was killed by the police I think in 2012, and the reason why this is so significant is because Anthony was murdered the first new report that came out indicated that Anthony was in the process of swallowing illegal drugs as if that was a justification to kill him when they approached him. So, that was the storyline and that is what we heard and that is all we had to go by, however the explanation did not sit well with us. So, what we did was go door to door for days in that neighborhood. We talked to people who was in his family, who were there, when he was approached by the police. We talked to neighbors in the community, who were in the community at the particular time and told us Rev. that is not what happened to that man. They said that man was walking across the street minding his business with his family and all of the sudden the police came up from behind him and picked him up and slammed him on his head and that man almost died instantly. It was almost difficult for us to believe that the encounter happened that way. Until, we talked to so many people who verified the story. We got affidavits from the attorney who eventually took the case, and that was the attorney J. Wendell Gordon. We affidavit from people in the community, and we were really able to debunk the story that the media put out. In fact, the media had to say that, you know, we recant the initial story, because what we did was the autopsy report we demanded a preliminary autopsy report, because the story wasn't was accurate. As a result of our demand, autopsy reports usually take up to 6 weeks, but we got a preliminary autopsy report within 48 hours; and when we got that preliminary autopsy report it said that there was no airway obstruction, there was not drugs in his body and that there were no drugs on the scene. That clearly proved that no way that the police department explanation as to why they stopped Anthony Anderson was violent or legitimate but even further the thing that I was to make a clear point of I don’t promote drug use, at all; however if that man was high as a kite that does not mean he deserved to be murdered by the police. Because one of the problems we have is that our folk is not being able to live long enough to go to trial. THey are being trialed right their and they are being convicted right there and they are being executed right there in the presence of the police who is taking a prescribed oath to protect and serve. Sherele: ​My case that stands out to me is the Freddie Gray case, because even though the police officers were indicted, the story is, the keep saying, Freddie Gray had a knife in his pocket. This knife in was in his pocket, so how did you know he had a knife. So, why didn’t yall stop from chasing him, targeting him or do anything to him when it was in his pocket. How do you know it was in his pocket? So, they trying to keep saying they put Freddie Gray on trial but what about the officer's? You know, this has to stop. Also, it’s not just police brutality it’s about the water rates that we are forced to pay here in Baltimore City. It is about the tax increase that people are forced to talk about. It is talking about the gentrification in our community. Its also about the building up the downtown area and no resources are coming to the city, where we have to live in rat infested communities with houses falling down. Uh.. a kid was killed on palgrove where a house fell on him. They just got these houses standing up and they're not doing anything to..there is on on Fulton Ave, South Fulton Ave., that is holding up by 2 plants �instead of just getting rid of that house and it’s just like we are forced to live in a condition where people not our skin color is not forced to live in; and they are also trying to gentrify us by pushing people out of the Cherry Hill community with these food deserts. We got to talk about the food deserts that are all around Baltimore city. Its talking about the poor schools. We have to talk about the water rates that people are forced..recently there was a situation if you owe more the $250 to water bill company your water was shut off; but it was also found that businesses owe 3 times or more than than and their water is still on, but families are forced should be about to wash their children's clothes, and feed them, with clean water because they owed more than $250, and big business are allowed to run up these right rates and they are not forced to be held to the same standards as residents that live here. So, there are multiple situations that happened here in Baltimore that needs to be addressed and again we coming down here and we see all of the things that are being built here, downtown, but nothing is nothing is being built uptown. So, we are saying divest downtown and invest uptown, because that is where the people are. They are trying to push us out towards the county, so they can bring the people that they really want in the city so they can have the Inner Harbor and The Galleria and the people who live here don’t have anything. Sha’Von: ​Um..so now I am going to transition into the Baltimore Uprising questions..so does the Freddie Gray incident surprise you? Why or why not? Rev. C.D: ​Absolutely not, and I think quite frankly I saw this now very seriously that if we do not learn to take police terror more seriously as a community it will happen again. Um.. I am not surprised at all, because I think that Black people and not just black people, I think that people who sympathize with the urgency of the African-American experience they are tired of seeing a lack of accountability when it comes to the treatment of African-Americans, and it is not just by the police. It is by the government as a whole because what we understand that the police is not just a renegade agency. They are apart of Baltimore City government so the police strategies that exist within the police department those are the strategies that come from the top, and even if the Mayor does not implement these strategies or conceive of these strategies if there is a need for a new strategy then the Mayor has the ability to say to the Police Commissioner that we need to do something different. I firmly believe that it was not a surprise to people. I firmly believe that there is a belief that uh..Black lives really don’t matter, and I think that whether or not Black lives have value I think it was on trial the same time those six offices who brutally murdered Freddie Gray was on trial. Unfortunately I think the message was sent that Black lives don’t matter and that Black lives don't have any value except to us, which is why we have to love another and we have got to come together like never before, because I think it is very clear the Criminal Justice System is this city and in this state and in other predominantly African-American cities across the country it is sending a very clear and distinctive message that we know that this system was not created with Black people in mind. We know that it wasn't created for anybody who isn't a white male in mind, because at one point in time White women could not even vote. What we are understanding now than ever before is that this system does not have an appreciation for the African-American experience nor �does it have an appreciation for the contributions of Black people to the United States of America. Sherele: ​ You know..Baltimore uprising was not a surprise. One day I turned on my television and I saw Ferguson and as I looked at Ferguson I was really shocked because I thought we was in a third world country. They had tanks out there on the streets. They had things on fire, but it was just an understatement about how people were fed up with police brutality across the nation. And when we went to Ferguson to join the efforts in the fight against police brutality and then had to come here and fight again, because it is spreading all over the United States of America. So, this will happen again. This will happen. In 2012, Baltimore city organized, my husband, PPA, SCLC, organized over 10 thousand people to come here and march and protest about the violence and injustice happened her about Trayvon Martin; then to see that it did not stop. It just keep growing, and they say alright we going to put cameras on police and see what happens. We saw a man on the ground getting assassinated and shot in the head by police offices on camera and what is going to happen to him, nothing. This is going to keep happening until like I said, the President say something about it, the FOP be held accountable. I do believe that the Ku Klux Klan is being held within the police department, which is why African Americans are being assassinated, even though they don’t wear the white hoods anymore they still have the same have the mentality of African Americans are second or third class citizens here in the United States of America. Sha’Von: ​That’s true. So, how would you the events of those first couple of days after Freddie Gray’s death? Rev. C.D: ​It was very traumatic. I thought as I indicated earlier that when the uprising officially started, and I appreciate you referring to is a uprising and not a riot. I appreciate you, because what you did was clearly articulated the pain and the frustration and the deep seeded and the deep rooted feeling of neglect and abandoned that existed within the hearts and minds of people that deeply snowballed; because people are only human. I genuinely appreciate you for referring to it as an uprising because i think that for once people stood up on their hind legs and decided not to be confined by the consequences of what might happen if the stood up and said this is wrong. There were some people who did not go to work and a result of them not going to work they were spotted on television and fired from their jobs; but they were prepared to make that sacrifice. Those youth that walked out of those schools were prepared to make those sacrifices. Um..they were right to do it, because we have righteous indignation about what has transpired in this city. It is criminal and it is wrong. Until we get this thang right. We need the possibility of something similar happening in the future. But, I want to answer your question. Can you ask the question again? Sha’Von: ​ Oh, how would you the events of those first couple of days after Freddie Gray’s death? �Rev. C.D: ​ I, you know, I am a history person so I watch films on World War 1 and World War 2 and the Civil War, Vietnam and the Gulf War even. I remember walking home because my wife, the city was in a state of emergency, and uh..I could not, she could not come pick me up because she had the car and the buses were not running. So, I had to literally walk home, and on my route home I had to walk by the western district police, which of course was the police station that was specifically involved in the police killing of Freddie Gray. And I remember seeing these huge tanks stationed there and I was remeber tanks driving by me with soldiers on the tanks, and i had felt like I had potentially gone back in time to some of the images of the saw in movies about not WW! Or WW2 because they did not have that kind of equipment, but the Gulf War or the War in Iraq, and i felt like my they have been victimized because of the social economic conditions of that community. ANd I felt like because of those social economic issues and people are self-medicating themselves meaning they are getting high and getting drunk because they are trying to take away the pain of how they feel. Right. And then I saw how they were responding because of the outrage and the righteous indignation that we rightfully have as a community because this young man was brutally killed by the police and I felt like we have been criminalized and I felt like our humanity have been undermined because if out humanity had been respected people would have know that we would have had a right to have righteous indignation and they would have respected that and we would have been treated with dignity and respect, but oppose to being treated with respect. A curfew was imposed. The curfew was 10 o’clock they started shooting pepper bullets in front of the ground 5 minutes after 10. So you had children trying to comply with the police department requests, who have been shot with rubber bullets. This was after Freddie Gray was brutally killed by the police. This was days after, and so when you talk about the events that happened the lack of, again, respect for humanity that came from police department but also our local government, again the police department is not some sort of leftist renegade agency they are apart of the local government and the response of the government completely exacerbated matters. It was like pouring gasoline onto a fire. Sherele: ​As my husband stated, I felt as though we were actually like in uh..back when Dr. King was out here marching advocating to bring change, and he was sprayed down with water holes and attacked by dogs. That was pretty much the same thing, we were were victimized here in Baltimore. Uh..we were, like he said, massed, forced to stay in our houses, we were locked down. Pretty much like were in a concentration camp, and we did not have rights a citizen's of the United States of America, and I felt like even just walking on Pennsylvania and North Ave. which is about 2 blocks and half from our house it was like when they marched over the Edmund Pettus bridge. Some people were thrown over because they wanted to walk for voting rights, and the only thing we wanted was justice. That was the only thing that we wanted. All the people want is justice. We want accountability for what happened to Freddie Gray, because if you hurt one of us you hurt all of us. All of us are in jeopardy of being victimized if you don’t stand up. �Rev. C.D: ​And if I may, I have to say this for the record. You know the way that the State’s Attorney was bullied and the way that she was publicly lynched by the Fraternal Order of Police and by by racists and bigots throughout the country, her life was threatened and the life of her husband was threatened. Um...they had the audacity to threaten her children as well. That was to show intimidation to her, but not just to her, to other African-American elected officials, to women elected official, to other elected officials of color, and if you take a strong position and if that position puts you in a position where you are on the opposite end of the mainstream or for lack of better words the white community then we will punish you. That in my opinion was a true uh..it was a true.. I think it underscored the fact that we live in a society of systematic and structural racism. Because, what we say was the political establishment abandoned this lady when she brought for criminal charges, and the police killing of Freddie Gray. They completely abandoned her after they glorified the indictment after the heat started coming, and when the racists came out. It was as if there was Black political flight. People literally flew away from this young woman, and she was there to take that stand alone aside from the community of course. We stood with her. I just think the way she was attacked proves that there is systemic and structural racism in our society. There was a battery of attacks that she had to endure. It was truly heartbreaking that she got threats at her home. She got threats at her job. They threatened to dismember her husband as a result of bringing forth criminal charges in the police killing of Freddie Gray. Sha’Von: ​That’s crazy. That is too much. My next question is..even though the national media, I know you spoke on it a little before, even though the national media has used a variety of terms to describe what happened last year. What terms would you use if any to describe the events in Baltimore in April? Rev. C.D: ​The uprising is very very appropriate because in order to come up, we first would have to be down, you know; and I think the down position describes the socio-economic condition of the people in this community. The down position describes the condition of our schools. The down describes..uh..the lack of recreation opportunities for our young people. The down describes the unemployment. The down describes the poverty. The down describes the vacate and abandoned properties. So, I like the term uprise because what is suggest is that people were tired of being down, and they decided to stand up for themselves, for their families and for their communities; and when they stood up they did so in this symbolic imagery of freedom fighters, another term that I would use to describe the people in the street. THey stood in tradition of freedom fighters like Dr. King, Fannie Lou Hamer, and even Nelson Mandela in S. Africa, and ​Math Mehndi​. They took positions that were not necessarily popular by the local government, but they took positions that were right. And to be quite honest with you and I have talked about this before. Before the uprising we haven't had a Major resign from office since 1999. We have a new Mayor in Baltimore City today, because the incumbent mayor at the time of reelection decided not to run. We had a 50% turnover on the Baltimore City council. There are 14 members on the City council, �8 of them are new and under the age of 40, 40 and below. This is historic. Never ever had it happen if it would not have been for the uprising. Sherele: ​And we also got rid of the Police Commissioner. Rev. C.D: ​Also, the Police Commissioner got fired who handled the Uprising. And so, I think it is very important to note the positive things that came as a result of the uprising. When I described it I talk about the burning bush in the Bible. I heard a preacher mention it and I continue to borrow or steal his analysis of it. When he talk about the burning bush, he says the bush burned but it wasn’t consumed. I think that is what happened in Baltimore City. The bush burned but it wasn’t consumed and the light only illuminated what had be hidden in the dark for quite to long, and that is the socio-economic conditions that the people in the city have been forced to live with for to long. Again, that is why it is good to entitle it an uprising, because people have been down for too long. They have been suppressed for too long, and now they decided to rise up and to reclaim their dignity, self-respect and their right to be free. I think of before I sit down of those signs that men and women would wear during the Civil Rights movement. The men use to wear a sign and say I am a man, and Sojourner Truth had a wonderful historical piece that said Ain’t I a Woman? So, I think that is what it was about. Sherele: ​You know, again the word uprising is a great term to use because the people stood up. They came together, even though the Crips, and the Bloods were trying to do all of this stuff, but really what they were trying to do is come together, and unify us to be on target with who are we really fighting against. We are fighting against the police brutality that happens here in Baltimore City. We are fighting against the system that keep oppressing our community. So the uprising is a great term to use, and when Bernie Sanders came here to do a tour he called it a third world country. He said Sandtown look like a third world country. You know our current Mayor that was just sworn in yesterday, she was the Senator in that district, 48th district, she didn’t even know that Freddie Gray and Sandtown was in her district. But, she have been in office for two terms and we still have vacant buildings, abandoned properties falling down in our community, and nothing is being done. We can’t even depend on our political establishment to fix these things, because it has been there since the uprising when Dr. King was assassinated. THey still haven't decided to come and fix these houses, and we are still leaving in the same conditions. Sha’Von: ​How would you describe the general feeling of living in Baltimore during this time? Rev. C.D:​ Um..I think it is a defining moment. Um.. I think it is a defining moment, because I think that there has been a lot of suppressed feeling and emotion for a long time. But, I think that people are beginning to be heard. People went to the poles uh..during the Presidential election. They exercised their right to, and I saw particularly in early voting and general there was a record number of people that voted. I think people are beginning to wake up to the reality �that we can’t move this society forward without them. Right. They have also elected and turned over the entire half of the City Council, as I talked about, got a new city administration. This happened with with people. There was also an independent political movement that brewing on the ground, where we had awesome political candidates are coming outside of the political realm. They are not coming outside of the Democratic or Republican party. There is an emergence coming from the Green Party. So, I think even in spite of that there has been a lot of suppression both socially and politically, and in spite of the systemic and structural racism, and even in spite of economic discrimination, which is something that can affect both Black and white people, and it does in Baltimore City. I think there is hope. THere is a song by Albertina Walker, who is a gospel singer that says I can see sun peeking through the clouds the strong is almost gone. I think we are still in a storm, but I believe that we can see the sun peeking through the clouds. Sherele: ​Farrakhan said that if Baltimore ever wakes up. I believe that Baltimore is waking up, and me and my husband talk a lot about what Baltimore use to be back in the 1800s about it being a slave port, and about it being involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and about how our ancestors were forced be sold here in Baltimore. There is a lot of underlying things that needs to be addressed here. We can build monuments here for Holocaust victims, we can build statues for Babe Ruth; but we are trying to hide the slavery that Maryland was involved in and we need to acknowledge it. Baltimore City needs to apologize for what is has done to its citizens of Baltimore City involving slavery; and also, they need to find a way to empower our communities by building up these houses and by making job available for our community. It is a lot of work that needs to be done, but I think it is all rooted in our past with what happened in the past and acknowledging it instead of trying to cover it up. Sha’Von: ​Were you all personally involved in any of the activities of the activities following Freddie Gray’s death? If so, can you explain your involvements. Rev. C.D: ​Absolutely, the first Press Conference that took place in Baltimore City we planned uh..downtown and City Hall. I believe that we had invited representation of the family to that particularly press conference as well. We announced during that time that we will be holding a march that evening I believe it was. The press conference took place I believe at 10 o’clock, 10 am, and we announced that we would be having a major protest that evening. We had a series about 2 or 3 protests before the community started to get involved. The protest nightly began to start talking on a life of their own. I think that even a few protests took place in the daytime, but the press conference that took place immediately after Freddie Gray was killed, we organized that. In addition to the fact, again, we announced a series of marches that took place in the evening. What we found was those protests in the evening continued to grow, and more and more community support began to build; and before you look around the community really began to take on the identity of those marches and that is what we wanted. My wife and I live in Sandtown. But, at the same time we wanted community leadership to step up as well and begin to start taking the reigns of the marches and that is what happened, �because we believe that is is important to train up leadership and to have home grown leadership organically struggle that affect poor and working class people. Sherele: ​Yeah. We were frontline on Freddie Gray, which we have been over a lot of protests that happened here in Baltimore within the last year. Uh..so, we have a 7 year old, who is also a frontliner for protests and rallies. We are just trying to get the community organized. It is not about us. It is about the community knowing what's going on and coming out to be apart. We do believe that people are the power, and we have to come together and unify so we can fight change in our community. It is up to everyone to pick up the mantle and do the part here. Each person is needed. We all can’t be heads, arms, and legs; but we all have a purpose and we can be used to help bring change in our community. We call for everyone to come out and help. We have been out here protesting and advocating. Right after Freddie Gray happened, there was a group that came down called the Justice League from NY and they were trying to tell our community to stay in the house, and to not worry about it because they were going to take care of it in Annapolis. The secession was already over, and Annapolis wasn’t going to start again until January, and they were trying to tell our community to stay in the house and we were very upset because we are activists. We saw what was going on and we went around there and saw what was really going on and they was telling us that they were going to take care of it in Annapolis. They came all the way from NY. We told them no. Yall come out here and stand up for injustice that is happening in your community, because if it happens to her son it can happen to you son tomorrow. Therefore, we have to come together and not let anyone take your voice away. It is your voice. We have the right to advocate for your belief system, for you community and for you family. That is what we was teaching the people, and they took hold to it. They said all night, all day we are going to fight for Freddie Gray and they did. Very proud of them. Sha’Von: ​So, how did you inform the community about the protests and meetings? [59:39] Rev. C.D: ​Well what we believe in is old-fashioned grassroots activism coupled with the effective utilization of technology. So, we did flier distribution but we also did a whole bunch of facebook organizing and utilizing social media; as well as text alerts and things of that nature. What find is a hybrid between old-fashioned grassroots activism, and conjunction with effectively utilizing uh..technology. What I will say is I think that sometimes we get so stuck in on uh..technology that we abandon that old fashioned style of organizing, which has the potential to be more personable. You know. And um...I think that is one of the things that we don’t do. We are good about making sure that there is a hybrid. There are some things that we can improve, but we are good about blending the old way with the new way. Sherele: ​Well I remember uh..how we reached a lot of people by standing out there on Penn North, and uh..with our bullhorn rallying up the community letting them know that it is your right to stand up and fight. Like, we, my husband always says that fight that we don’t fight today our children will fight tomorrow. So, that is what we were trying to tell �the community, and we was telling them if you first want to break into a strong man house, you have to first bind up the strong man; and that means our men. So, what was going on our men were being attacked, and that leaves our household vulnerable, because that leaves our women and children, but then our children get attacked, and our women get attacked, so we have the enlighten the community to say hey yall, yall need to really be aware about what is going on in the community. Because, they are really trying to teach down your families. They are trying to lock up all of our men. The either try to lock them up or kill them or put them or drugs. So, we have to be mindful of this, because you need to be spiritually aware of what is going on in your surroundings. Also, another thing that they were doing was attacking our children within the school system. The school system...your children is affected by it. They spend majority of their day in school. Well, a nice portion of their day in school. So, you have to be aware of what’s going on in your schools that you got your children at; and go there and be involved. Sha’Von:​ Um..so eventually there was violence that um..was in the protest and the uprising. So, what do you think led to the violence? Rev. C.D:​ I think that immediate approach by the city led to the violence that subsequently led to the firing of the Police Commissioner rightfully so, I think that was one of the only things quite frankly then Mayor did correctly. Uh..the way those young people from Douglass were boxed in by the police. The transportation system was shut down completely in the city of Baltimore. So, those young people who were out there were put into a position where they were actually trapped in West Baltimore. I think that created an inflammatory type of situation, and I think that helped to contribute to the violence. But, the one thing that I want to say about violence uh..Dr. King said that peace is not merely absence of tension, but the presence of justice. He also said the violence is the voice of the unheard. What we have to be very clear about is violence is the divestment of the communities at the expense of downtown Baltimore. Violence is the condition of our schools. Violence is the proliferation and indication of poverty and unemployment in our community. That is the type of violence that the people in our city have to endure every single day. Not at the hands of some kind of foreign entity or some foreign government but at the hands of the very government they pay their taxes to and they attempt to a complaint as possible to the laws in relation to. I think that for me that is the type of violence that I experience every single day. As a man, who works hard, believe in God goes to church, and spends time with family. I experience that kind of violence every single day, and people in my community experience that kind of violence every single day. So, I think we have got to open our hearts and our minds and we need to uh..look at violence and we have got to redefine violence and not be defined by violence. Sherele: ​Well as an activist, we have held plenty of protests and rallies with over of thousands of people on the streets. It isn't hasnt came to what had happened up there with the children, the youth. I believe that the youth, if the police really wanted to control that situation they could have in a non-violent way. They came up there with face gear on, pepper spray. The came to fight. They came to fight those youth, because they �youth was really unarmed until they saw what they were up against and then they got some rocks. But, the police came already in right gear, like they said, to fight a war; and they were just children. As, adults we have these protests and they don’t come to us like that, so our children didn't know what they were up against. But, the police knew what they were up against, and they came to fight. Sha’Von: ​What was you all reaction to the media coverage of the events? Do you feel like they portrayed the story accurately? Rev. C.D:​ I was livid. I was enstinged. I was infuriated to hear the some very conservative right wing commentator uh..on CNN, I believe, refer to Black youth as thugs. I was also very upset about how the local politicians in Baltimore City also have helped fueled that perception, because they also referred to Black youth as thugs; and that should be ashamed of themselves for referring to our youth as thugs when 50 to 60 years ago they would have been referred to as Civil Right Activists. You know what I mean? Or a 100 years before then they would be referred to people who were fighting against lynching, as a part of the anti-lynching struggle. So, I think that the media did us a major disservice. Uh..the right right wingers out there did their job and did it extremely effective, but I also think that our local politicians also helped to fuel that, and that they should be held accountable also as much as the local media should be held accountable for misrepresenting the uprising. I think that if you merely talk about what they perceive as violence and not talk about the socio-economic conditions that they people were in before the uprising and explain how that feeling that matured and how it snowballed, then I think that you misrepresent the uprising and you misrepresent the people who live this reality every single day. Sherele: ​I believe they took it out of content of what the youth was really doing. They were saying they were fed up. You know. When I turn on the television and I see the Mayor at the time calling our children, the youth, and the President of the City Council calling our children, the youth, also somebody from the safety committee calling our children thugs. It was..they live here. The live here, and they know this was bound to happen people were going to get so upset that we're not going to take it anymore. It happened before with Dr. King was assassinated, and Freddie Gray was like Dr. King. He was a modern for our time and people were just upset. They are not going to take it anymore and we really need real change. It really nothing has really change aside from the political arena. So, we are hoping so of these houses get fixed. We are hoping that jobs come to our community, but I am really not sure that is going to happen. So, we got to keep fighting. It is terrible that the community have to fight like this because all we want is for our children to live and grow, and the children after them have a safe place to grow. Sha’Von: ​Do you think that the media has any influence on the way the events in Baltimore were..was received by the city and on a national scale? �Rev. C.D: ​Yeah. I think that the media, again, plays a major role in the imagery period. I think that they have the tendency to over glorify drugs and violence, and the under promote positive things that are happening in our community. Uh.. with our youth in particular they talk about even the shootings that take place, even the school violence; but they don’t talk about the young people that are graduating from high school with full scholarships to Morehouse, and to Brown. They don't talk about the young people who are safety patrol officers in our school. They don't talk about the young people who are working as ushers, and associate ministers in the church, and so I think that media plays a role in exacerbating the perception and quite frankly the stereotypes that exist in relationship to working class people, and poor people of all color particularly Black people. Sherele: ​Yeah. I agree uh...I believe the media, especially the local media. I believe the local media painted a negative picture of Baltimore. I believe CNN had a better portrayal of what was really happening in Baltimore, because they had comparisons to Ferguson; because you could see it on a national, because Ferguson and it is happening in Baltimore and now North Carolina it shows that something is really wrongs. You can't..so on the local level they try to say well...it had a knife in his pocket that no one could see, then they say the children are thugs, but on the national level they say well this has to do with police brutality and the way that they are targeting African Americans. And that it is a real world wide issue. But, our local media just talk about negative stuff. They really don’t talk about positive stuff that is happening in our community. Sha’Von: ​Um..how would you describe communication with the Baltimore City police after the protests? Rev. C.D: ​I think that is was very strange..but I also think that it was strange before. I think that was a part of why the uprising took place. It was a tremendous level of mistrust, uh..there was a tremendous level of anxiety and part of that takes place because the only time our communities encounter the police is in the midst of an arrest. We don’t see those officer walking a beat like I mentioned earlier in Rowland Park, in Guildford, and in Mt. Whillings, more affluent, economic affluent economic communities. An office friendly no longer exist in our communities. Our children don’t get to interact with a friendly police officer. The only time they hear a police officer is when they say put your hands up or when the officer rushing to their homes rushing to arrest someone in their home. THe only time they see a police officer is when they are patting someone down on the sidewalk, and so I think that the relationships are very strange because these police officers do not live in our communities. And once upon a time that was the case, officers lived right next door to you and you knew the officers and the officers knew. You had the type of relationship that you would have with a neighbor. You know. I think that the relationship has been estranged for some time now, and I think those �strayed relationships helped to create an environment conducive to the uprising. It is almost how a fire takes place anywhere, the environment has to be right. There are certain elements, certain things have to be in position in order for something to catch fire. And the environment was conducive to an uprising. Sherele: ​I will just stay with what he said. Sha’Von: ​Has their been a community change as a result of the protest? Do you think there is still more work to be done? Rev. C.D: ​Oh my goodness. Absolutely, I think that community change yes. I see people who are more awake then they had been. Before, um..I see that there is more of an interest in the body politic. I see that people are aware as to what is happening politically around them. I think it is very interesting that the first Presidential election after the uprising..you know. There was this election with Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton and also Bernie Saunders. I think that people are politically aware. I think that people are awoke now and they recognize the urgency of the situation before us, and it is very server. I think the timeliness of our response now will be quicker now. I don't think we will be slow to respond to things. I think that is also a contributing factor of the uprising. You know when you let things fester as opposed to addressing them on a case by case bases has the ability to snowball. So, I think that people are more politically aware now and they are not asleep at the wheel, and they are prepared to more readily address issues on a case by case bases as they come up. Sherele: ​Yeah. I believe there is a lot more work to be done, again, it is not just police brutality. It's about our schools. It's about going to the school board sitting in those meetings advocating for the correct change. It's about our community. It's about going down to City Hall fighting against 66 million dollars, what is it called? That was given to Port Covington. Uh..the Tiff. It is about giving back to our communities. I see more youth, like yourself, is more interested into how were are going to bring about change. Your involved and you're active to the change that is needed here in Baltimore. Recently, we just had a NAACP race and we changed a lot of seats that was going in Baltimore City, because the NAACP to be advocating for the African American community, so a lot more people are willing to put their bodies on the line to bring about change. Sha’Von: ​So, these are the last 2 questions that are wrap up questions. You all answered a lot of my questions, so I was going through trying to skip through questions. Do you think there will be a resolution to the disconnection between the community and the police? Rev. C.D: ​I think the only way we will ever see a real resolution, which will include and not be limited to to improve police relationships is when police officers are fired, and when they are uh..jailed and when their pensions are taken away for incidents of police �brutality, specifically that end up in murder. I think that people have to see that there is not a double standard between the citizens and the police. It sends a terrible message that you can became a police officer, and get away with murder. Im hoping that we don’t start getting people who want to be police officers just to so they can kill people with consequence. Sherele: ​I believe that uh..police and community relations will only change if we start getting rid of the middle management and upper management, and get rid of those good ole boys with the Ku Klux Klan mentality. We need some real people in their that are not trying to do the same thing that has already been done. So, we have to get rid of the middle management and the upper management of the police force. And also disband the FOP. It should be disbanded. Sha’Von: ​And my last question is what is one thing that you would like future generations to know about race relations in America specifically Baltimore? Rev. C.D: ​I uh..historically Baltimore struggle has been tough. It has been tough for a lot of reasons. Baltimore is so close to the Mason Dixon line that people have forgotten it was a southern state. So, if I could send a message it would be to know your role, to know what position you play, and to know to not be juvenile or to underestimate the position. I think it is also very very important to understand that where we are today as imperfect as it is we are here because somebody fought, and where are children and grandchildren will be is determined on how hard we fight today. Then every generation is required to make an imprint on our society. None of us can take up space on the earth. We don’t have a right to do that, and not make a contribution. We have to make a contribution just like those who literally died. They died dreaming for us to have opportunities that them themselves never experienced. They knew for well they will never experience it. Some of them when they left them plantations, who knew that it wasn't for them. They wanted their children to see the promise land. They knew they could possibly be murdered on their way to the promise land, but if they could just just stretch out their arms and push their child over the border then even if they died their children would be free. Sherele: ​ Well I will like for the people who coming behind us that it is your responsibility to bring the change in the world that you want to see. We are all put here for a reason. Our ancestors died. They did what they were suppose to do and we have to pick up the torch and keep fighting, so that our children and grandchildren can have a better life. And it is your responsibility to pass down to your children the history of our community, so they know if something happens that is is your responsibility to continue to push for change wherever they live. Rev. C.D: ​My wife says this a lot, Assata Shakur as an affirmation. I think this will be important to close out with something like this. It says: It is our duty to fight for our freedom. �Sherele: ​It is our duty to fight for our freedom. Rev. C.D: ​It is our duty to win. Sherele: ​It is our duty to win. Rev. C.D: ​We must love each other. We must support each other. Sherele: ​We must love each other. We must support each other. Rev. C.D: ​We have nothing to lose but our chains. Sherele: ​We have nothing to lose but our chains. Rev. C.D: ​We have nothing to lose but our chains. Sherele: ​We have nothing to lose but our chains. Rev. C.D: ​That’s it. Sha’Von: ​I love it. Thank you all for the interview. I really appreciate it. Rev. C.D​: Thank you. � https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/f86acb2b3d4c580201d2a027be05593b.pdf e3e7ddd59eec49021d4748ac1f13e1a8 PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sha'Von Terrell Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Rev. Cortly D. and Sherelle Witherspoon Location The location of the interview MdHS Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 1:22:13 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rev. Cortly D. and Sherelle Witherspoon Interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource Rev. Cortly D. and Sherelle Witherspoon Interviewed by Sha'Von Terrell Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sha'Von Terrell for the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 12/7/2016 Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly police brutality Press Conference Sandtown-Winchester Uprising https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/2c37c404744fc4c1fd29a09491135ad7.mp3 61baf28600ea306d65a5e3fc1d9339b9 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/61802522d6f42ae91cce4b9a2db9da1d.png a44c1951f9df1e0f6747c0c4d7d019b2 https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/d9484f8564f019d909716d13d23f677d.pdf d4a055270eb3be360b804b7e2f135612 PDF Text Text Preserve the Baltimore Uprising 2015 Online Archive Transcription of the interview with ShaiVaughn Crawley Sha’Von Terrell: ​Good morning. I have Sha’Von Terrell interviewing ShaiVaughn at the Maryland Historical Society on Monday, November 14th at 11 a.m..well 11:30 a.m. We are here for the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising 2015 online archive project. So, I divided the interview up into different components, so the first component is generic background questions, second, community activism, and then Baltimore uprising, after the uprising and questions for the future. So, we can begin with generic background questions. Where are you from originally, and where do you currently reside? ShaiVaughn Crawley: ​Alright. I am from Charleston, South Carolina, and I am in Baltimore City. Sha’Von: ​Can you describe race relations in Baltimore before the uprising? ShaiVaughn: ​uhh...race relations before the uprising was ironically race relations as it is now. Um..which is certain parts of the city getting..um..getting certain things such as..I guess certain benefits. Certain parts of the city getting more benefits than the other parts of the city. Um..certain parts of the city looking good, certain parts of the city getting money, certain parts of the city getting more attention than others. Sha’Von: ​Okay.​ ​So, what is your experience like living in Baltimore as an African-American man? ShaiVaughn: ​So, can you repeat that? Sha’Von: ​What is your experience like living in Baltimore as an African-American man? ShaiVaughn: ​As a black person, it’s good and bad. It’s mostly good. Um.. and I say that it is mostly good, because of the community that I live in. I live in East Baltimore in Highland Town, and that community is very diverse; and so for me um..I think that it doesn’t bother me living in that part of town just because I know um..how diverse it is and I know umm..that I feel comfortable in my own community. But, there are certain parts of the city that I don’t live in, and certain parts like Downtown, Fells Point, and Federal Hill. You know that you won’t see a lot of Black people living in. Those are the places whereas it is not that fun, and it is not as comfortable. Um..so that is just what it �is. I just..I enjoy being Black in the city at the same time I don’t like the fact that I could feel comfortable in certain parts and not other parts. Sha’Von: ​Yeah, so now we are going to transition into community activism questions. Um..do you have any personal experiences with police brutality. [2:51] ShaiVaughn: ​No, I have not um.. I have no experiences with police brutality especially living in Charleston, South Carolina. Um..not really a whole lot of activity. I’m sure there have been acts of police brutality, but not against me. Sha’Von: ​Okay. Um.. Are you a part of any social and/or political movements in Baltimore? ShaiVaughn: ​Absolutely. I’ve been working with the Baltimore Bloc for the past two years, which is political grassroots organization dedicated to exposing police terror working with families of police terror, um..and also filming the police and things like that. So, they do a lot of good work, and I am glad to be working with them. Sha’Von: ​Okay. I had interviewed Short the other day. ShaiVaughn:​ Did you? Good. Sha’Von: ​What inspired your engagement in the community? ShaiVaughn: ​So, again I was living in Charleston and it is very..I mean race relations is not where it needs to be at all. Um..very racist. A lot of things that use to go on in the 1700s and the 1800s are still going on today. I think my first field trip was at a plantation in like kindergarten. So, they have no intentions of removing any kind of racism they’re in. So, I had to keep a lot of how I felt inside, because Charleston is very passive. Right. I never been to a protest in Charlest. I never been to a rally, and I wasn’t very political just because I was always taught that it would always pass, and blow over. It’s Charleston it’s racist. Get over it. And so I got involved when I moved here. I realized that I can have a voice. I can have a say. You know I can say that this is not rage..um and so moving here and seeing just how people can mobilize in the city, and this city, appose to use to live made me want to get involved. Sha’Von: ​Okay, Um..can you share projects, any activism projects or community projects that you have been working on..recently? �ShaiVaughn: ​Recently..uh...so right now, we’re working on solidarity projects with our indigenous brothers and sisters at Standing Rock. Umm..and also with Donald Trump. There is going to be a lot of more mobilizing and organizing down there, but I guess what I have been doing personally is City Hall is currently trying to pass a bill, they are trying ban replica guns in Baltimore City; and they are trying to charge families whose children have replica guns $1000 for a 2nd offense. $250 for a first offense, and so instead of them saying that the police department is paranoid and they don’t know how to deal with children in the city. They are placing the blame on children saying that yall are the issues for having toy guns, and so right now we are working on organizing around that to see what can we do to stop that bill. That bill would not solve anything. It will only make matters worse. Sha’Von: ​Wait, so a replica gun is a toy gun? ShaiVaughn: ​Yeah. A toy gun. Sha’Von: ​And they are fining kids for having them? ShaiVaughn: ​Yeah. They are finning children guns, and they plan on finding and confiscating the gun, which doesn’t make any sense. If you, are taught to shoot on sight, as far as I’m concerned; I have seen people die over wallets anything black or looks remotely close to a gun is shot and killed. So, if you can remove a toy can then I expect you to be able to remove real guns; and that is not what we are seeing. We are not seeing people with real guns have their guns confiscated, and being charged. We are seeing them killed before they can even go to trial, and so I am just going to see how this works. It won’t work, but still. Sha’Von: ​Um..have you seen any change in Baltimore as a result of this activism? Or as a result of your projects? ShaiVaughn: ​Yes. I have seen a lot more people organizing, and just becoming aware. I also work with the West family. Um..who have been out for 3 years protesting the death of Tyrone West who was murdered by 11-15 police offices, including a Morgan State officer; and so just seeing over the 3 years um..so many people have gotten involved with that family shows that um..progress doesn’t happen overnight. It is something that keeps on happening. We have to keep on pressing on, and so I am seeing I am definitely seeing progress. �Sha’Von: ​Okay, how would you describe communication with local officials, and Baltimore city police before the uprising? ShaiVaughn: ​You mean between me and them? Sha’Von: ​The community and them. [7:55] ShaiVaughn: ​The community and them? Not good at all, and it is still pretty awful. It really is. You just see council members who have no contact, no communication with their community. I mean..you have community members who don’t even know who their city council person is. When it is time to go vote for the Presidential and the Mayor, they don’t know who their city councilman is. They can call their city councilperson on the phone, and the phone goes right to voicemail. Leave a message and I’ll call you back. They never get called back, and so their is no communication what so ever between councilmembers. They pass these bills, they come up with all of these plans, and they don't include the community. I have been to countless city council meetings, and sometimes it has just been me or it has been me and three other people. Right. There is never a packed room. It’s sad. It is a crying shame just how much they do not care about the community, and as far as the police goes...the police only contact is negative contact. I mean we see that with the Department of Justice report. We’ve seen how they claim that this is my community mentality when a lot of them don’t even live here. They don’t even take into consideration maybe this isn’t their community, and maybe it's the people who live in them communities. For some reason. That is such a far fetched thing for them. They think just because they are law enforcement that they can decide and dictate what is their community and what isn't, and so communication is completely out of whack completely. Sha’Von: ​Okay, so now we are going to transition into the uprising. So, does the Freddie Gray incident surprise you? ShaiVaughn: ​No. Absolutely not. Sha’Von: ​What was you initial reaction when you heard about it? ShaiVaughn: ​When I heard about Freddie..um the first thing I thought was...I can’t even remember what I thought to be honest with you. I remember meeting with some of the um..my comrades in Bloc, and I remember hearing about it, and we were sitting there just talking like dang; and I remember um..one of the black member going..I remember him saying you know if Freddie dies it is going to be on right, and I thought about it and I �said you right. If Freddie dies it is going to be on, and I think like 2 days later he died, and it was on. Sha’Von: ​So, how would you describe the events following his death, and what the public got knowledge of his death? [16:25] ShaiVaughn: ​So, like basically after he died...I don’t remember a real gap between us hearing he died and us organizing. It was almost like instant. We were even organizing when he was still fighting for his life, and so when he died that really just brought more numbers out. It just increased the crowd sizes, but really we were already organizing even when he was in the hospital. Sha’Von: ​Um..so how were yall organizing? ..through social media, or word by mouth or…. ShaiVaughn: ​Right, so we organized through just mobilizing at the point. Mobilizing and organizing. There were a lot of organizers who were meeting here. A lot of local organizers and a lot of organizers from out of town who were coming in to work with us. Um..from that point we would just rallies and demonstrating and bringing people in that is what we were doing for the most part. Like I said we were already kinda out in the streets. Once he died, the size of the crowd tripled/ doubled and whatnot. For the most part, we were already organizing, calling for rallies, calling for demonstrations on the streets. Sha’Von: ​Okay, um so even though the national media has used a variety of terms to describe what happened last year..what terms would you use? If any to describe the events in Baltimore? Would you use..uh..a demonstration, or it was a protest or uprising? I know media, mass media, called it a riot. So what term would you use to describe it? ShaiVaughn: ​I would either use an uprising or rebellion. You know, when I think of rebellion I think of slave rebellions, I think of you know people who were tired of being treated the way that they were, and finally stood up and fought back. I like the word uprising, but I also like the word rebellion. I think of Denmark Veasy. I think of Nat Turner. I think of..you know...I think of those guys who really stood up and said enough was enough. I don’t have to bend over and take this. Sha’Von: ​Right, so that was my following question. How would you describe the protest or rebellion? Was it an accumulation of all the people’s frustration about police brutality? �ShaiVaughn: ​Say that again. Sha’Von: ​. How would you describe the protest or rebellion? Was it an accumulation of all people’s frustration about police brutality? ShaiVaughn: ​I think it was..a lot of people made it about Freddie only, and yes it was about Freddie, but it was also about housing inequality. It was about affordable housing. It was about people living in dilapidated housing, people having lead in their water, paint in their houses, not having any jobs, and not having any opportunities. No one to invest in them. No one to tell them that they matter, and that someone gave a shit about them. Right, and so the rebellion was about police terror and everything else. It was about people just tired. People just go tired, and they got tired of bending over, and living in those conditions. Having to hear, over and over, that things will get better and it never gets better. Nothing never changes. You know, some of those people, they have been hearing things will get better for a long as their grandparents have been alive, in the 60s, in the 50s, and in the 40s. Nothing has never gotten better. Sha’Von:​ So, were you personally involved.. ShaiVaughn: ​In the uprising? Sha’Von:​ In the uprising. ShaiVaughn: ​Yes. Sha’Von:​ Did you protest? Did you march? I’m sorry, How did you participate? ShaiVaughn:​ Yes. So, I um got a text from...I don’t know how I got this text but..it was from LT. M. Russell from the police department. He sent out a mass text..I don’t know how he got my number, because I don’t deal with police. Um..but I read the text and he was basically calling for Pastors, and people of faith to come to on North Ave. and he will be sending different Pastors out in groups to kinda tone everything down, and so um..I remember packing so bags, at that time I was an intern at a church. And so, I was like okay that’s me, and so I packed some bags and went down there on North Ave. walked up Pennsylvania Ave. and I saw that their was that Save-A-Lot on Pennsylvania Ave. that already had folks in it, so I went in, you know, trying to see who was left trying to get them out. I kept on walking down..um walked up Pennslvania into North Ave. and I remember just looking around like damn all of this really happened. When you see it �on the media, it is like yeah whatever, but when you are actually their it is just like wow. I remember looking, I’m facing, looking toward CVS, so their is North Ave. on this side. East I’m hearing Pastors marching down and they are locked arms and they are singing hymns, and I’m going..my first thought is what in the hell are yall doing? That is not why we are here. I mean they messed the point of why they were out there. I was like man yall could have went to somebody’s church, and did that. So, I was a little disappointed to see that we were called out to as clergy as people of faith to mobilize..um..but instead we were out their locking arms singing songs. Sha’Von:​ Was this the day after? ShaiVaughn: ​This was the day of. This is why it’s going on. Nothing hasn't even called down yet. Things are still on fire, and they are coming down singing all of these songs, and there was a lot of them. I was like man this don’t make any sense. Sha’Von:​ Do you have any pictures? ShaiVaughn: ​I do. I have a picture of what..I can’t remember the news station, but they had a helicopter photo of all of the clergy members walking down. And the tag line is clergy walking through West Baltimore. I was like c’mon. Sha’Von:​ Ok, so um..my next question is what do you led up to the violence of the uprising? [16:47] ShaiVaughn: ​Um..what led up to the violence during the uprising..so I don't see what any of the protests did was violent. I think the violence came from the state. The violence came from the government. I think that with the people did was in response to the violence that they were experiences, and so the violence that I think that started it again was police terror, dilapidated housing, no money, no opportunity, the mayor calling them thugs, as if it that’s the last thing they need. Is their mayor calling them thugs, and animals. There are so many other things people putting their money over people, money going towards our police department who really does not need another dime, right, and no money going towards schools. There are school closures. No food, food deserts where people have to eat from corner stores or from Chinese restaurants. The money does not go back into their community, so many different things the violence came from the state. I will always say that the violence came from the state. The state started this...um..and that is where the violence came from. �Sha’Von:​ [18:07] Okay, so now I am going to transition into after the uprising. So, what was your reaction to the media coverage of the events? ShaiVaughn:​ It was horrible​. ​Disgusting. Um..CNN came in uh..for a good 3 days, 4 days, afterwards, actually no they came a good 2 days after everything was all said and done. Basically, after that night everything was more so kinda trickling back to where is was that night was the only night that is was to that hype, and they came basically after the fact. Um..they came the night of not even knowing the reasons why they did what they did. They weren't here to talk about the housing. They weren't here to talk about what led up to it the night of basically saying oh um..they did this and they did that, and they did that for Freddie Gray and so I didn't appreciate basically their coverage which is expected. I can't expect the media to accurately tell the right story, because they weren’t here for none of it. They come from different cities, and they meet up in one city and say this is what’s happening here. And it’s like you don’t have the right to tell me what’s happening here. I live here, so no they didn’t cover anything right at all; and we shouldn’t expect them to. Sha’Von: ​Um..yeah so you just answered this question...so how do you receive your news personally? ShaiVaughn: ​How do I receive my news? The people. Facebook. Twitter. Um..people who are on the ground who keep people updated. Periscope. Um..with social media we control the narrative, and that is why I think social media is so important. You know, you have people who are demonizing social media and say social media is the downfall of today’s generation and all this other stuff, but no at the end of the day social media help a lot. It helps us hold police accountable in the ways that we can. It helps us document the real story. It helps keep everyone in the loop for people who can’t show up and want the real story. We have live streamers, who are willing to give the real story, and so I think that social media has helped in such a huge way, and that is where I get all of my information from. Sha’Von: ​Has there been a community change as a result of the uprising, for example an increase in grassroot activism, community policing or the creation of police reform meetings? ShaiVaughn:​ A lot of meetings. A lot. There has been so many meetings even after the DOJ report. We ended up going to like 4 or 5 other meetings, and so we love to meet. We love to meet and to talk, um...but we got to do more; but yes we have had a lot of meetings..um..and we had a lot of people who are more aware now. A lot of people who �won’t just keep walking when someone is getting arrested, but will actually sit and stay and check and say make sure he is in there. Make sure you buckle him in. Um..we have different cop watchers going on in different cities, where people are committed to filming the police, and making sure they are doing what they suppose to do. Sha’Von: ​Okay, so now I am going to transition into questions for the future. Overall how do you view the events surrounding Freddie Gray’s death? ShaiVaughn:​ Say that again. Sha’Von: ​Overall how do you view the events surrounding Freddie Gray’s death? ShaiVaughn: ​It was beautiful seeing people come together the way that they did. Um..I can’t say anything else but it was beautiful. It was powerful, and you know resilience is such a beautiful thing. I mean when you get a bunch of oppressed people, a bunch of oppressed and marginalized people who are tired when you get them together it is beautiful like a family reunion. It’s like we all family. We all fed up. We all tired we all hurt, but we going to be alright, and so I just saw it as um..the rose that grew out of concrete. You know, it is a ugly situation..but when you have people come together for a common cause it is beautiful. Sha’Von:​ Okay. Do you think the city has recovered from the events? ShaiVaughn: ​Absolutely not. Sha’Von: ​Do you think there is still work to be done? ShaiVaughn: ​Yes. Sha’Von: ​For example.. ShaiVaughn: ​Um..a lot more organizing. A lot more organizing has to be done. A lot more know your rights training. A lot more workshops. We have a lot of meetings, but I like to see more workshops. Where we are actually teaching the community who their elected officials are, and I think that will be a huge step towards anything is when people know exactly who runs their communities. Ultimately, we have the power. The people have the power, but in same thought, it is also important to know who these people are because they are using our money. THey are having these meetings, and I �think that is important for us to know who these people are so we can better hold them accountable. Sha’Von: ​Okay. Um..so my next question is do you think there will be a resolution between the community and the government? What will lead to the end of police brutality? ShaiVaughn: ​I think that if any change happens, it will only be because of the people. I think the government and the state and even law enforcement, they are hell bent on keeping things going the way that they is, because for them it works. Right. For them this is fine. For us. It is not, and so I think that any change happens, which it will happen. It will happen through us. The people, because the people have the power, and right now the state doesn't know that; and maybe they do know that, which is why they do what they do is because um..when people stand up and fight back and say they don’t have to take this it trembles. They don’t want to admit that, but the state literally trembles when people stand up, fight back and demand what is theirs. Um.. and so do see some changes. For me I am an abolitionist when it comes to the police department I don't see that we need a police force. I am 21 years old and I never had to call the police, and I think that there are a lot more people who share that same story than we think about. If you really think when is the last time that you really had to call the police department. Um..I think that some people can think back a little further back than others. RIght. When have you have I had to call the police it has been years for some people, and so I think that when we build communities and when we have people that we know we can trust as our police, right. Instead of calling the police department, why can't I call my dad or my uncle? Who may be able to do the samething, if not better than what a police officer can do. Um..so when we have that in mind, and we start to build our core group of our local police, which is us um..we wont have to rely on the state for assistance. Sha’Von: ​Okay. What is one thing that you would like future generations to know about race relations in America, specifically Baltimore? ShaiVaughn: ​Can you say that again. Sha’Von: ​What is one thing that you would like future generations to know about race relations in America, specifically Baltimore? ShaiVaughn​: Umm.. future generations need to know that it will not end. It didn’t start with us and it won’t end with us. A lot of other generations before us will tell us that it �didn’t start with us, and it won’t end with us. Our duty is to fight. Um..and so we’re fighting now, but I want the future generations to know that their going to keep fighting too. 10, 20, 30 years from now 40, 50 you going to have to keep fighting it is not going to end with us. Um..but the way that we fight, the way that we resist, the way that we press on makes a huge difference in the long run. Sha’Von: ​What is it that you want the listeners to take from this interview? If you could leave them with one message? ShaiVaughn​: With one message..keep on fighting. Keep fighting even when you get tired fight some more. If you got to crawl, if you got to no matter what you have to do to keep fighting, keep fighting with all that you got. Sha’Von: ​Alright. Well thank you for the interview. That’s everything. ShaiVaughn​: Thank you. � https://baltimoreuprising2015.org/files/original/6ef3181097f0fe243da343c8e74c5bca.pdf a64d007b2ffaf0165530718a885bb0df PDF Text Text �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Intern Oral Histories Collection Description An account of the resource Oral histories conducted by the interns of the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project interns at the Maryland Historical Society Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Micah Connor, Sha'Von Terrell, Sterling Warren, Sydney Cook Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3, PDF, JPG Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Sha'Von Terrell Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed ShaiVaughn Crawley Location The location of the interview MdHS Transcription Any written text transcribed from a sound Yes Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 26:54 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource ShaiVaughn Crawley Interview Subject The topic of the resource Demonstration / event Description An account of the resource ShaiVaughn Crawley interviewed by Sha'Von Terrell Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sha'Von Terrell for the Preserve the Baltimore Uprising Archive Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available MdHS Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 11/14/2016 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sha'Von Terrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP3.Jpeg, and PDF Baltimore Baltimore Bloc media Uprising