Betting on Hope: Black Baltimore and the Work of 2020
Hope Between the Walls
Hope Between the Walls by Eve D'Antignac
In June 2020, the Center for the Study of Religion and the City’s leadership was given the opportunity to distribute Relief & Restoration Grants made possible through the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation to organizations in Baltimore and beyond. Here we share the transformational work of the individuals and collectives who shape these organizations and who have stepped up to offer help, from providing PPE to essential workers, to offering housing assistance, to planting gardens so that under-resourced Baltimoreans may become food independent.
We wish to uplift their stories. Over 30 of us banded together to record and transcribe oral histories, to create works of art, to photograph and video the city we love– and to curate this exhibition. Our team celebrates the action of the organizations featured here and the power of hope in the face of righteous frustrations experienced by People of Color in one of America’s greatest cities.
June 6, 2020 - Morgan Students march to protest the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many others
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all sectors of societies across the globe and disproportionately impacted communities of color. On June 6, 2020 - Morgan Students lead protest against police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many others. Despite the dangers of mass gatherings during the pandemic, the World Health Organization maintained that “Public Protests Are Important” for addressing the structural inequities that have led to public health disparities along racial lines. In the wake of these protests, cities gained momentum for more equitable distribution of their budgets.
After the cancellation of our “5 Years After the Baltimore Uprising” Religion|City and Philosophy and HBCUs April 2020 conference, the CSRC shifted funds to help support relief and restoration work by our community partners. In June of 2020, we were awarded an additional $150,000 by the Henry Luce Foundation to further support these efforts by our community partners. We acknowledge that so much more work and support is needed and we are also inspired by those in our communities who are now working to bring about racial equity during the pandemic. We thus also organized over 30 researchers to help document and reflect on the work, including oral history interview recordings conducted over Zoom with community partners engaging in relief and restoration efforts.