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Standing with Baltimore

April 30, 2015 By HKearl

On April 19, Baltimore resident Freddie Gray died in police custody from spinal injuries. How it happened has remained unknown, but it sparked protests in Baltimore this week akin to those in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. To learn more about why, here is a Washington Post article written by a reporter who has lived in Baltimore for 30 years.

Maureen in Baltimore
Maureen in Baltimore

Because a minority of people at the protests grew violent (some burned a CVS), some media outlets have unfairly focused on them rather than the majority of peaceful protesters who simply want justice for Gray and justice for their communities.

SSH Board member Maureen Evans Arthurs lives near Baltimore. She shares what she did on Wednesday:

“I joined the No Boundaries Coalition at St. Peter Claver Parish in Sandtown, Baltimore to distribute food and toiletries to residents in need. The community asked for help, and we were right there to provide it. The media is depicting Baltimore as a city of lawlessness and upheaval, when really, communities are coming together to support one another and causing a positive uprising for change. #BmoreUnited

Every day this week there have been protests and that will continue, not just in Baltimore, but in other parts of the country. CNN reports:

“From coast to coast, marchers are taking to the streets to support Baltimore protesters and complain about police brutality in their own towns. The momentum only seems to be building as the week goes on.

Demonstrations are planned for Thursday in Cincinnati,CNN affiliate WXIX reported. And Philly.com said a “Philly is Baltimore” protest will be held at Philadelphia City Hall. Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Oakland, California are on tap for Friday, which is also May Day or International Workers Day — often used to call attention to issues affecting the working class and minorities. In addition to Baltimore, protests took place in at least half a dozen cities Wednesday.”

Maliyka in NYC
Maliyka in NYC

SSH Board member Malikya Muhammad lives in New York and she joined the “NYC Rise Up & Shut It Down With Baltimore” last night with 1000s of other protesters. Unfortunately though, she said it turned scary, “The cops turned a peaceful protest into a jail cell roundup folks who have been doing this for awhile. I never saw anything like this before.”

Men are not the only ones unfairly policed or killed. I attended a vigil in Washington, DC, last night for Rekia Boyd and other Black women who have been killed by police. The organizers had us chant out for justice for dozens of women and women in the crowd came up to share poems, songs, and thoughts. Several reminded the Black women in the audience that they matter, their stories, their voices matter. Indeed, they do.

We hope you will do something, take a stand (take part in the “Shut it Down” event May 1 in Baltimore), speak out, and advocate for a cultural shift where #BlackLivesMatter and everyone feels safe in their communities.

Photo by Ilana Alazzeh‎
Vigil in Washington, DC. Photo by Ilana Alazzeh‎
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Filed Under: Events, News stories, race Tagged With: baltimore, Freddy Gray, Rekia Boyd

Street harassment, water balloon fights & anime conventions

August 3, 2012 By HKearl

I’ve known Shawna Potter, Director of Hollaback Bmore (and the frontwoman for the band War on Women) for a year and a half, and I’m always impressed by the creative ways she brings attention to street harassment!  Here are just two recent examples. 

Two weeks ago, she talked about street harassment with the girls from St. Francis Community Center and helped them relieve their frustration with street harassers with….a water balloon fight!

Then, last week, she led a group of activists in an outreach effort at the harbor during Otakon, a fan convention for East Asian popular culture (“anime”). Otakon occurs in Baltimore every summer.

The Indypendent Reader published an article about what happened:

“As one of the largest anime conventions, the city fills with costumed attendees –each one personifying their favorite anime (or other East Asian icon) character. For many, it is a delightful and fantastic sight and experience to behold.

Wanting to make the most of this highly populated opportunity, the activists trekked over to the Convention Center for some direct feminist outreach.The group set-up shop on the corner by the front doors. Stuffing their pockets with “Hollaback! Bmore” buttons, for an hour the predominantly female organizers confidently approached the hundreds of Otakon attendees streaming in-and-out of the Center.

Potter began the outreach. Grabbing a stack of papers, where people could share their harassment stories, she walked up to a costumed group of presumably  female-bodied individuals and said, “We’re documenting women’s and LGBTQ folks’ stories of street harassment. Has this ever happened to you?”

Soon the other activists were following her lead, passing out flyers, buttons, engaging in candid discussion on street harassment, and documenting written and video stories.

Brooks, the only male-bodied Hollaback! activist present, observed, “It’s interesting to do direct outreach at an event like this. When they see us, they think we’re part of the convention. Then when they start talking to us, you can see the realization that what we’re talking about is really very serious. And most of them, are expecting attention due to their costumes. So you can see the exact shift towards thinking about how attention can be incredibly unwanted.”

Many of the attendees were teenagers or of college age, experiencing street harassment in its first confusing waves. Some expressed the “behavior” as “annoying” but “harmless”; one young woman even stated the all-too-common conception that the “behavior” was complimentary. This is an idea that Hollaback! actively works to combat; aiming to expose women to the truth that they do not need to find their worth as sexual beings and people in this world from this form of the objectifying male conduct — that when they allow objectification they allow the oppression of their identities.Others stated that they were from small towns and didn’t recognize what was being discussed. It should be noted that much street harassment research conveys that it is prevalent regardless of location, whether urban, suburban, or rural. However, more data is needed; hence the need for more Hollaback! geo-tracking.

This being stated, many also engaged excitedly about the topic. They discussed their street harassment stories, filled up our pads of paper, and went on camera to tell their tales.

Some didn’t want to share their stories but vocalized their support for the movement. One young woman became emotional when an activist approached her, stating that she had been “jumped” just the previous night. The activist strongly encouraged her to seek support through a variety of means..

Next Steps

As the flyer collection diminished and handfuls upon handfuls of buttons were dispersed,the activists excitedly gathered to discuss their work. Immediately palpable was the organizers thrill to have interacted so intimately with so many about street harassment.

“We’re definitely going to do this more often,” reflected Potter.“So much of this movement is about education. This is a  simple yet obviously effective way to publicly discuss and bring awareness to such an often invisible issue.”

Great work!!

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Filed Under: Activist Interviews, street harassment Tagged With: anime, baltimore, hollaback bmore, otakon, shawna potter

Winning a Stand Off vs a Harasser

September 25, 2009 By Contributor

Several years ago, I was walking to a meet and friend, and a young man (early to mid 20s) slowed down a made a vulguar remark, circled around the block and parked his car to watch me cross the street of an intersection. Without making eye contact, I crossed the street. Once I made it to the next block, he called out “hey”. I looked backed and said “no”, in a calm voice. This went on twice. After the third time, he proceeded to curse at me and called me a “stupid bitch” several times and threatened to “beat my ass if I ever came around his neighborhood again”.

I stopped right there and turned around and gave him the “OK” sign and told him to come on and do it. So we had a strange quiet stare-off for about 15 seconds, with him looking extremely shocked and confused that I wasn’t rattled by his threats. He finally sped off in a huff.

– anonymous

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Include your location and it will be added to the Street Harassment Map.

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Filed Under: Stories Tagged With: aggression, baltimore, harasser, maryland, street harassment

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