For about three years I lived in Baltimore - a city that has problems greater than the small group of souls who are willing to face them and do something about them. It is a place where the rich and mostly white keep their distance, many black people (and from my observations, this is a majority of the black populace) live in unsafe parts of town or are trying to get out of them, and most everyone else without a vested interest in the struggles of the poor either looks the other way/tries to mind their own business when the worst happens or they try to make a change which is like trying to stop the dam from flooding with one's finger á la legend of Hans Brinker.

In 2003 I became a Baltimorian. I was always worried about walking anywhere outside my downtown apartment once the sun set. Substantiated fear is what keeps you alive and potentially unmugged in Baltimore. When I first moved there, Zac told me about an entire family that was murdered in East Baltimore for trying to stand up for what the belived in - namely, attempting to make their neighborhood safe. They chose not to ignore the rampant drug transactions on their street corners and made an active effort to keep their kids out of the drug scene. The mother, father, and five children were murdered for that.

Today, just by chance, I came across an article that gives credence to their cause. A safe haven is being opened in the house where they were murdered, which I think is a brilliant and effective way to send two messages: 1) that people who stand up for and live what they believe can and will have a lasting effect and 2) those who die for such causes truly will not be forgotten

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/us/08baltimore.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Peace