Everything Under The Sun: Baltimore's True Spirit Shines

Some of the volunteers out near a vacant lot, cleaning up debris.

On Monday, the rest of the world read about the terrible destruction of out-of-control behavior in some of the poorest neighborhoods of Baltimore. The city is near and dear to my heart, since I came down here more than thirty years ago to work with those who are ill and needing professional nursing care. Some of those for whom I have cared come from the areas hardest hit by the deliberate destruction. No matter how bad things have been in these poor neighborhoods, I had not known of any rioting and pillaging en masse in these neighborhoods previously, no matter how badly people had been treated, no matter how much in need. There has always been something special in the spirit of the neighborhoods and in the larger city area. So, with sadness, I watched the destruction on the streets where I had traveled to work at downtown hospitals.

But, as I said, that isn't the Baltimore that I know. That recognizable Baltimore came out yesterday, in the groups of people who came together to clean up the mess that remained. When the day dawned, citizens emerged from their homes with the tools of clean-up - brooms and shovels; rakes and garbage bags; mops, buckets, and work gloves. The glass that littered the street was cleaned up. Litter strewn about broken stores was swept up and put in garbage bags, remaining goods that could be salvaged were restored to shelves that had to be picked up and put back in place. Mops came out to wash the store floors that had the grime of the feet of looters.

In one instance, some 2500 people showed up to clean garbage off the streets, all invited by an event post on facebook. Faith leaders came out to give encouragement to the cleanup efforts. Rev. Westley West, of Faith Empowered Ministries, who has the reputation of trying to rebuild lives, said, "Those individuals in our community that want to step up and is tired of the violence and our communities being vandalized and things like that, it's going to take those people to step up and say this is not the answer, this is not the way." One of the volunteers who came out to help, Tia Sexton, said, "Now you're looking at burnt down store fronts, broken glass. It's senseless."

One of the young neighborhood children offering a drink to a police officer.

As the day darkened toward sunset, groups of workers and regular citizens gathered in a show of unity to take the city forward. Some danced to try to bring some positive spirit into the hearts of those in the street. Groups of people gathered and walked down the street where the violence had spilled over the previous evening. The community was calling out to neighbors, advocating for everyone to keep the peace. No destruction, just the community trying to calm itself down. This is the spirit of Baltimore, a city where neighbor helps neighbor during times of emergency and crisis. This is a city that can come together for the good of all. That's what it will take in the days ahead to find the will to carry on, as either good news or bad comes from the investigative efforts into a tragedy that never should have happened.