The 5th Annual CM Ball Music Festival was cut short after the owner of CM.Pops Ky McCoy’s mistreatment towards Saxophonist Rachel Winder post her scheduled Saturday night performance at the culture festival. Days later, a social media protest emerges bringing awareness to allegations of fraudulent practices and misogynistic abusive behavior against female performers of the festival. Spoken word poet Maya Camille and artist Amorous Ebony support artists in a Cash App campaign to pay performers not compensated for their participation in the event.
Just short of a week following the blow-up of the Stardust Music Festival, Baltimore women speak out about abuse in the Baltimore arts community at another music festival held during Labor Day weekend. Allegations of fraudulent business practices by McCoy emerge on social media days after artists flock to social media with feedback of the culture festival. Maya Camille, the activist, and representative for Rachel Winder published a series of tweets outing abusive and dismissive business practices with the event’s promoter.
The CM.Ball, as stated on the website, is “an annual celebration of Baltimore creators and entrepreneurs presented by food startup cm.pops.” It’s a complete DIY community-based art project in its 5th year taking a stance to educate on health, environmental, and social issues while stimulating the economy of small businesses and artists. A few Baltimore artists to perform at the CM.Ball in previous years is Blaqstarr, Kotic Couture, Ducky Dynamo, Baby Kahlo, Miss Kam, and many more Baltimore-based talent.
Maya calls Ky McCoy out to be a con via her Twitter. “CM Ball is a scam. Ky doesn’t pay artists. He is a disrespectful, unprofessional, who uses the iota of clout he has to scam artists,” she shares in her first tweet about business handlings with McCoy. She tweets nine days after Rachel Winder and numerous other artists were not paid for their performances. Maya also shares that McCoy blocked her and Winder as followers from the CM.Ball Instagram account when contacted about payment. She further explains on her Instagram McCoy’s belligerent behavior during the event.
Ray Winder retweets Maya saying McCoy is “a true scammer and doesn’t know how to treat artists.” She follows up in another tweet a picture of McCoy. “This dude is a heartless and Spineless scammer. He’s blocked by several other artists. But He doesn’t know it’s not that simple.”
In case y’all don’t know who I’m referring to when I’m talking about @cmpopsUSA and Ky! This dude is a heartless and Spineess scammer. He’s blocked and several other artists . But He doesn’t know it’s not that simple lol pic.twitter.com/ZITJZj24rw
Maya and Winder’s disclosure of a scam artist sparked a wave of concerns from other performers that weekend. Some artists share their personal reviews via their social media accounts. Cash Liss, the founder of Tortilla Gurl, a small black Baltimore artist collective devoted to covering local artists in Baltimore’s arts scene, published a text conversation with McCoy to her Instagram Story. The conversation was a response after contacting McCoy about her payment. The conversation was later shared on singer and producer :3ION’s Twitter account.
THIS IS CM POP RESPONSE TO LISS AFTER SHE ASKED FOR HER MONEY.. (I got this from her ig story) pic.twitter.com/kJzNIK3SOl
This public mishandling led to a “Cash App Roll Call” for artists not compensated for working the CM.Ball Music Festival. Maya led the campaign to raise money for Winder. A number of artistswent to action sharing each other’s social media handles in support of the profit they lost. Cash Liss gave thanks to the artists who supported her in her hesitation to share her personal account with McCoy.
Say Her Name Coalition is a foundation that prides itself in “continuing the work of affirming, empowering, uplifting and fighting for the visibility and livelihood of Black women and femmes.” As stated on their website, “they seek to smash respectability politics, patriarchal and white supremacy systems, misogynoir.” When Amorous Ebony, activist, and founder of Say Her Name Coalition, caught wind of the debate between Cash Liss and McCoy, she expressed with us in an email, she personally reached out to Cash Liss to donate payment towards her performance “after seeing the disgusting texts.”
We contacted McCoy for comments about the social media protest, and when or whether artists will receive payment from CM.Ball. Doc’s Castle Media is yet to receive a response.
How To Support Black Women and Femmes in Baltimore Community
We wondered if there would be future efforts to raise money for helping artists impacted in situations like this. Ebony shares with us she’s “open with connecting and organizing to support them with a separate fund.” There currently are no campaigns with the organization specifically for artists impacted by this incident. In the meantime, the Say Her Name Coalition is a great place to start if you’re looking to support Black women and femmes facing similar challenges. It is their mission is to end violence against Black women and femmes within this city!
On another walk around Baltimore, I came across another outside art exhibition like the Black Lives Matter Mural in Patterson Park in September. This time in Baltimore’s Fell Point to get out of the house for a bit and visit Sound Garden to browse some vinyl and old flicks. A trip well spent because I bought some cool new socks. But also set my eyes upon a beautiful exhibit at the How Great Thou Art Gallery worthy of a PrayForLove highlight on Doc’s Castle Media. Baltimore Mosaic Artist Loring Cornish creates I Can’t Breathe outside exhibition to bring attention to police brutality.
Last month, we were hit with the devastating news of Breonna Taylor’s verdict. And just like when I scroll my social feeds, days later, I strolled by a reminder, in person, that we’re still in the midst of a war with police policy and reform. I’m tired.
Cornish exhibit is a pause in time. It makes you think. I took a moment of silence before I visited the Sound Garden next door. I saw all the names of victims fallen by police brutality represented by burning candles just under the “I can’t fucking breathe” sign. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s pictures displayed large as day with words of frustration and “I will never understand” written in all caps all around them. This case is the loudest breakthrough we’ve had in recent years. Two pictures of Breonna Taylor stand directly along side the burning candles. The exhibit makes me upset. The build-up of all of this has gone on far too long. I don’t understand, either. So I pause to take it in.
The exhibit is getting quite the buzz as people share their experiences on their social media using the hashtag #LoringCornish. On Instagram, there are over 500+ shared posts of Loring Cornish’s exhibit.
Cornish had many other exhibitions focusing on race and police in previous years. In 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, Cornish decorated a police box in Station North “to bring attention to police operating practices that have made millions of Americans uncomfortable.” He also received national attention for his Black “lynched” doll exhibition in response to Eric Gardner, Walter Scott, and Michael Brown. Cornish used his passion and talent to raise awareness of police brutality throughout the decade.
The How Great Thou Art Gallery is owned by Cornish and is the home to a plethora of beautiful creations made by the Mosaic artist himself. Check out more art at the Loring Cornish website.
“I will never understand,” either. Would you visit this exhibition? Leave your comments below.
Outside art exhibitions are one of the best things to emerge out of this 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. I spotted another art exhibit in Baltimore worth visiting if you’re looking for something to do but still want to social distance. Patterson Park is holding Black Live Matter Murals after recent George Floyd protests in Minneapolis.
Photo Credit: CtrlMyCamera
The “invisible enemy” Covid-19 has required businesses of all industries to maneuver differently because infection rates in America are at record-breaking highs. Restaurants, bars, casinos, and nightlife are closed or open with limited capacity throughout the state of Maryland. It wasn’t until last Friday, September 4th, Governor Larry Hogan announced Maryland is ready to move forward into phase 3 of reopening. As news that infection rates continue to rise in Baltimore city, there doesn’t seem to be any new changes with the city moving fully forward into Phase 2. Restaurants dining increased to operating at 50% capacity or with outside dining. Masks are required in every place of retail. Baltimore city must continue operating like there is a huge risk at stake.
There are precautions being taken at many Maryland businesses, and new creative avenues are being explored for how to continue conducting business as usual. For art galleries and museums, there are fundraisers, window exhibitions, and virtual workshops considered as options in this industry during these trying times. In Baltimore, there is no exception. Art lovers can find alternative options to continue enjoying popping up all over the city. Labor Day weekend, Baltimore creative Alanah Nichole hosted The North Avenue Window Joint opening reception for the window exhibition at the Impact Hub in support of financially helping artists during the pandemic.
The North Avenue Window Joint will be in Impact Hub on North Avenue until October 31st.
Companies opened for business highly encourage patrons to take safety precautions by practicing social distancing with face masks and utilizing hygiene stations. But at the start of the pandemic, it never crossed my mind how a virus could affect almost every social activity humans partake. It’s really changing how we operate in our daily lives. I see people being affected, and for the first time, I saw the entire world react in either fight or flight mode. It’s weird that we’re still in the midst of it, but also awesome to see how new opportunities are created.
Alanah isn’t the only activist making things happen during COVID. I saw a post of a #BLM mural shared by Baltimore based artist Jasmin Manning via Instagram. But didn’t expect that the following week I’d stroll past it while on a mission to get fresh air and clear thoughts from Covid-19 isolation at my house. I found several Black Live Matter murals along the sidewalks of Patterson Park.
According to a post shared to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum Facebook page, these #BLM murals were “erroneously removed by park rangers. They were loaded into the back of the truck with the intention of taking them to the city dump. Due to the vigilance of the Patterson Park community, the removal of legally displayed murals was halted.”
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum located in downtown Baltimore, MD will display these selected murals in Fall 2020 if you fail to get the chance to head over to Patterson Park in Baltimore to view these great works in person. The murals will be part of an exhibition on the power of protest.
Have you seen any art exhibitions or attended events during the pandemic? Let us know what cool things you’ve done while social distancing in the comments below.
There are hundreds of companies and organizations making public stances in support of ending police brutality, supporting police reform, defunding police departments, and so on. The world is looking like it’s making a breakthrough. It really is. As a result of all these changes happening, we as a society look like we don’t know what we should be focusing on because there are lots of organizations making PSAs that aren’t directly focused on police reform but systemic racism in general. I log online and feel like my brain is being pulled from one breakthrough on one side of the country to the next breakthrough on the other.
And like any hot topic, there are so many inquisitive people pondering why we are making so many changes. Questions I’ve seen being asked:
What should be our main focus in the media?
What should we have our attention emotionally, spiritually, and physically?
What’s good for our mind during all of this?
What does this tell me about my frame of character?
Are the changes we’re making moving us in a positive direction?
These are all very good questions to ponder. But I also see people arguing about why we are fighting when they thought racism ended? What are we trying to change? Honestly, I can sense their frustration. If you’re now truly beginning to see how messed up everything is, I’m sure you’re finding out how much more fight we have left to right a wrong system.
Source: Facebook
Ultimately, all of these questions show us how much we don’t know how structured a systemic racial society has shaped how we live our daily lives. So we’re confused. It’s good news one minute to hear people talking of police officers walking out in Atlanta after the charges were made against the cop accused of murdering Rayshard Brooks. “Because this is what it all started from. Police Brutality is the topic.” It’s labeled off-topic the next minute people celebrate the rebranding of breakfast delicacy Cream of Wheat, which if someone was educated on the history of the image on the package, they’d know the chef name is Rastus – a pejorative term and considerably offensive as it’s associated with a depiction of a stereotypically happy Black Man in a plethora of minstrel culture in the 1920s.
We are capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time. Still, while these are two separate stories, racism is the dark cloud that overcasts each. Systemic Racism needs to be addressed from every angle. We don’t have to erase it. But let’s REVISE our history to include everyone in it. Let’s have our story told with the inclusion of the people it’s about. Let’s hear the dialog of those who find that this is wrong. This is one reason why we diversify the people sitting in the seats at big tables at large corporations…AND actually, listen to their input, then implement it. We include them so we don’t have to say oops.
Change is good. Social evolution is a good thing. If you have a problem like NASCAR’s Truck Series Driver Ray Ciccarelli who quits racing because of the confederate flag ban, and if you don’t see how innovative such change can be for NASCAR to move forward from allowing this in the first place, it is your complacency to racism speaking from within. You’d better check it. Because we must knock out every single angle of this racist ass circus:
It still blows my mind people complain about good changes.
Why should corporations and companies change their company stances and political stances in supports of #BLM matter?
Because the “black” dollar has weight.
Black people spend money. Everyone should know black people spend their money. As stated in the Black Detour, “Though Black America makes up a small portion of the US population, Black buying power is approximately $1 trillion with estimates placing it close to $2 trillion by 2020, making us [black people] one of the largest economies in the world according to the World Bank, the 15th largest economy in the world in terms of GDP.” This means black people have an influence on what defines mainstream simply from decisions made from their wallets. This is important to everyone else because this tells us black spending is why you’ll see that item in the isles at the stores, on your television screens, and even down to the place you choose to purchase your crabs in Maryland. It’s crazy how you can find a GoFundMe account created for a Maryland crab shop after it opted to shut down all four of it’s Maryland locations because BLM protests emerged at the Middle River location for the owner and his family’s choices of words and viewpoint in response to 2020 Minneapolis riots and looting.
Screenshot of Vince Crab’s GoFundMe
The weight of the black dollar matters to these corporations. What we see here is our country facing an economic crisis from the coronavirus crisis, too. When the stores open back up, the black dollar matters, right? I’m cautious knowing that my wallet has weight. I’m aware of this power. Companies are changing policies and making public stances also because they know this power, too. Especially in the wake of a pandemic where we’re desperate to not fall into an economic depression. So now I’m choosing to use this power to continue to expand on with conscious shopping, investing in what I feel is worth my money. I’m researching the company and its product. Does this give back to the issues I care about? Hmm…and is it blacked owned, too?
Humans know right from wrong. But our issues are layered and capitalism is corruption. We have to put back into what matters in order to live a better life. So putting money into communities that matter to me is important.
Finding a motive that you’re passionate about. It doesn’t have to be specifically for the BLM organization.
I read everything. I’m not naive to claims of people who opt-out of paying money directly to the BLM organization. Speculation of where the money that’s donated to BLM is always questioned. Speculation for why #BlackLivesMatter protests emerge during the political season, too. Why is it? Who knows? Is it the assumption that it’s a black organization? People could argue. I research where my money is going, too. So often when speaking to someone about supporting black lives, I hear their doubts about donating money to an organization like #BlackLivesMatter.
The Curators Of Hip-Hop hosted a zoom panel discussion “The Organized Culture” on Facebook live discussing issues in the current climate like what we should be doing next from protesting and what needs to be done to see changes when it comes to injustices. Five community leaders in Baltimore had this open discussion on Facebook live sharing what they do as their contributions to helping support the community around them.
It’s important that I shared this entire panel because each speaker shared points worth considering when taking on supporting a cause against injustices like #BlackLivesMatter. But there are many more issues that require attention because the injustices are interchangeably relatable to each other when it comes to the challenges that plague an oppressed and disadvantaged culture. As crime is directly linked more to poverty than race or any other factor. We should be looking to support and find ways to better improve these communities and neighborhoods. We can find roadblocks to almost every avenue of social interaction. Causes that could be addressed for inner-city communities are unemployment, poverty, drug, and alcohol addiction, homelessness, it is not only police reform that needs fixing. Because there is a connection to high crime rates in a system that embellishes all of the above, racism is a plague that is weaved within all of it, and a privileged group that rarely experiences it at all needs to know what’s going on.
Will you make a stand to donate to a cause to change systemic racism in its entirety? What are some causes that you know that fight against injustices? List them in the comments below.
I started writing this blog last week. I revised and deleted it a few times. I’m still weird about publishing this now. But to tell you the truth, I feel the same feeling of word vomit eroding my mouth today as I did 5 years ago when I wrote “#OpinionEssay: The “Real” Revolution Will Not Be Televised. #ILoveBaltimore” during the unrest in Baltimore resulting in the Baltimore Uprising. I don’t care how the blog comes off because it is another protest about what is happening around me. I just asked God to use me as he did before.
On Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black American man was executed on video by Officer Derek Chavin of the Minneapolis Police Department. The video went viral like a plethora of other police brutality videos that surface online. But this one…this one might just be the video that dropped a major bomb into white people’s reality. Do we actually have white people on alert as to what happens to Black people in America? Because a week later after this horrific image was shared countless times on our feeds, America also has seen protests and riots in cities across the country calling for justice for Floyd.
Credit:Nick Oxford/Reuters
When I wrote my Opinion Essay about how a revolution and revolt would not be televised, it was to send a message to Black people to come together and educate their families on the realities of being black. I wanted people to talk to their children about Black history. I needed black parents to take the time to teach their kids about a culture and a reality that has led their children to face a different lifestyle than those of other backgrounds. I wanted black people to heal in their black pride by sharing themselves with each other. It wasn’t my intention to tell black people to seek help or compassion from anyone who is white. When black people feel betrayed, that is the last thing they’re thinking of doing. I really believe many black people, like myself, took the time to immerse themselves in their blackness and grew in their pride because I saw so much uplifting and positivity living in the midst of the 2015 Baltimore Uprising. But the revolution was not going to be televised and all the positivity Black Baltimoreans experienced was short-lived.
Today I feel different about this revolution for Black America. I mean, the revolution is definitely on TV lol. There are so many black people who are already strong, having pride for themselves and culture. Black people live in their blackness daily. We don’t need to keep being reminded of why we go through these harsh realities. We’ve even gotten accustomed to healing each other whenever we’re knocked down with each release of a new video or news story. Though so many people yell #AllLivesMatter or Black on Black crime -blah, blah, blah- that is absolutely irrelevant to what attention we want. Black People are faced with injustices that people are deliberately ignoring. The revolution we’re watching for sure needs to be televised but this part of it is not for our spectatorship, it’s for our voice.
This revolution needs our labor at this moment to be a voice in our pure authentic blackness. This revolution needs for us to share our black stories, our black experiences, our black pain, and our black hopes. We need to share these things with our white friends so they can empathize with them. We need them to find some way to feel how we feel so that it can provoke them to fight for their allies because when white people care, they fight. It’s liberating to see more of my white friends, co-workers, and acquaintances speaking up after seeing this video. It’s amazing seeing white people taking the initiative to do the things that I asked of from Black people.
June 2, 2020, is a unique day in history particularly because #BlackOutTuesday will mark a day when industries and companies around the world chose to stop what they were doing to stand in solidarity against systemic racism. It’s the day America is literally acknowledging the bullshit. It might not be the whole country because there are still many doubters. But America today looks like it wants to listen to what we have to say. Black people have been screaming for such acknowledgment since forever ago. I’m a little overwhelmed with America lending an ear to Black folks, but goddammit about time. It’s the first time in all my life that I’m seeing white guilt on such a huge magnitude. I watched a video on Baltimore Fox 45 Facebook Live of hundreds of white people kneeling in solidarity on Northern Parkway and Roland Ave. We’re nowhere near the endpoint of racism but at least I’m seeing white people just as outraged as we are.
Several hundred protestors are kneeling for 9 mins on Northern Pkwy and Roland Ave. Eddie Kadhim WMAR is on scene (Source: Facebook WBAR-2)
It’s not over. We still need our white allies. But we need this issue to be in their faces constantly. That’s the just reality of it. Once George Floyd’s investigation dies down in the media, will white people stop trying to learn what’s really affecting people of color? When I think of the answer to this question in general, it’s no because it’s a really uncomfortable subject. People do not like facing being uncomfortable. A huge part of me believes that once we stop talking about it, we’ll fall back into this being black people’s reality, and I’m not being a narcissist when I think this because this is my reality. I’m black and there are a lot of wow factors about my daily escapades of being a black woman I often gaze over as just another thing I’m used to.
This is the new challenge that I would like white allies to face now that we’ve got a lot of their attention. I challenge them to continually diversify their mind while learning black culture because many of us have concerns about what’s genuine. All these awesome stances are being made, but will they make an effort to continue to learn about systemic racism and seek ways to help fight it? Will they deliberately seek moments that may make them uncomfortable with the intentions of it helping them grow? The country needs unity and in order to get there, we need collaboration and understanding that will not expire once the next headline takes the lead, I’m just saying.
Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
I’m tired. So are a lot of other black people. Are white people truly tired?
At least once once a year I’ll do these trendy post about what’s happening in Baltimore that’s catching the bulk of attention. Last year, I wrote an opinionated piece about the unrest presented in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, victim in 2015 grand jury case that sparked the fight against injustice and systemic racism in Baltimore City. The year before, I wrote on the social trend of people taking to social media to share their best representing picture they’d like to share if murdered unjustly by police brutality in honor of the death of Michael Brown. Also, let’s not forget about the #ImSoBaltimore hashtag that sweep the Internet for an entire day.
What’s popular this past week was the sudden appearance of memes inviting tourist to visit Baltimore. Only a week after Baltimore’s Light The City event took place in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, someone, who still remains anonymous, took to social media to share a few places that wouldn’t be considered the average tourist attraction.
I assume the Internet couldn’t wait to make Baltimore the butt of the joke, as the funniest photographs of famous and some historical landmarks act as the punchline for city natives familiar with the area. The locations to some places mentioned aren’t your typical call for luxurious vacationing. But who’s ready to visit Murry’s Steak House with me?!
Whoever made these memes are simply awesome!
If you’re not from Baltimore, some of these pictures may be questionable. Why would anyone want to visit Owings Mills where there’s nothing worth sight seeing if we go by what we see in the memes? To see boarded houses that have been that way for years? Oh, what joy!
These memes can be taken in many ways, even political. As we approach the near anniversary of last year’s Baltimore Uprising, I can see someone choosing to make a statement of what still hasn’t changed in Baltimore. The city granted programs and funding to the youth, but as people may visit the areas mentioned in these memes, you’d see the same old’ rusted, dingy, and dusty Baltimore.
Being a Baltimorean, I know of conversations that take place during this city’s unrest addressing the concerns people have about city and state officials calling the National Guard to protect Baltimore tourist areas instead of areas that took majority impact during 2015 riots. There’s also conversations about media outlets around the world showing a city that physically displays the outcome of constant budget cuts from our government. We need answers. We need understanding for why outsiders know only of Canton, Fells Point, or Federal Hill, but not Sandtown, Pennsylvania Avenue, or Station North.
Hmm, does this have to do with racism?
Anyway let’s not get carried away. I just think these pictures are funny and extremely left field. Pictures speak a thousand worlds and I love it. So if these were created as pure comedy, that’s fine with me too. Haha.
It’s not real! I want to assure the people who aren’t from Baltimore that. Don’t let them get their panties in a bunch trying to explore the unknowns of Lexington Market or Shake n Bake. If you truly want to know, come visit and find out. I bet you’d laugh too.
Earlier this month October 10,2015, history was made in Washington, DC. Justice or Else Million Man March was set to have it’s 20th Anniversary and I am proud to say I was a participant with fellow Bloggers Shaè McCoy of Uncommonrealist and Cortez Page of Alumni Marketing Group.
This event was set to monumentally make a difference in the way mainstream America perceived the Black American Male. It was a huge call of action to recent current events happening nationally regarding allegations and prosecutions in relations to police brutality and racial profiling. The Million Man March mission was as similar to its first annual with its attempts to purify the black man’s image. Twenty years later and things are showing little to no change.
The morning of the march, I arrived on the capital grounds, where the honorary Minister Louis Farrakhan was expected to give his address, at exactly 8:00 am. Minister Farrakhan wasn’t scheduled to speak until 1:00 pm. So I had lots of time to kill. What better to do than to take pictures of what was happening around me, right?
Did you or any of your friends attend the Million Man March? Share some of your photos in the comments below.
Want to watch the Million Man March Recap by the Mindy Jo News Show? Watch it here on Doc’s Castle Media.
Will you be participating in the 20th Anniversary Million Man March this year?
So here’s the scoop.
Doc’s Castle Media has decided to team up with Baltimore Blogger Shae McCoy of Uncommonrealist, Baltimore Entrepreneur Cortez Page of AMNGlobal, and NHENT to show the interweb our contributions, support and love towards our culture, our purpose, and our history by participating in the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March.
What’s the Million Man March?
Twenty years ago on October 16, 1995, Minister Louis Farrakahn, leader of the Nation of Islam, called on a march to the National Mall in Washington, DC to present a different image to society of what the Black Male represents. Civil rights leaders and organizations came together to unite in self-help and self-defense against economic and social issues faced in Black communities around our nation. This movement was mainly in works to gain politicians attention on matters happening in urban and minority environments, and also to encourage Black Americans to seek seminars and worship services for the betterment of the wellness of the black communities.
Why the Million Man March is Important today?
On April 12, 2015, twenty-five year old Baltimorean Freddie Gray was arrested by Baltimore City police on weapon charges. Seven days later, Gray died of spinal injuries which later sparked community protest and accusations of police brutality. Baltimore city witnessed its worst riots yet to be seen since the Baltimore riots of 1968, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The April 2015 riots gave way for Baltimore blacks to say, “Helllllllllll nawwww! They done fucked with the wrong city now!,” and sparked a revolution for a new generation to make a choice on whether they were ready to end a war that’s been on the outskirts of social ills for decades upon decades of Black lives. Now we’re here, seven months later, with a drive that seems to me has slowed down since then.
The Baltimore Riots earlier this year had me worked up. I went to protests back-to-back for a week and a half straight. Now that all of the hostility from the Freddie Gray case is slowly turning down from the media’s hype, it’s evident that people can quickly lose interest in the importance of remembering the reasons why Black people fight so hard for fair opportunities, something our culture cannot ever get a break from doing.
You see it’s the 20TH ANNIVERSARY of the Million Man March, right?!
It makes no sense that black men and women should have to dress and look a certain way in our society to prevent ourselves from being killed by the very people who are meant to protect us. I guess, it’s become all about being out of sight and out of mind because now that the news isn’t putting images of police brutality on the television screens of Americans, mass majority of civil protest regarding Black Lives Matters have decreased.
Why Doc’s Castle Media will be participating in the Million Man March?
As I briefly stated in my previous post “The Real Revolution Will Not Be Televised. #ILoveBaltimore,” I mentioned it being my duty to record the history in the making of a new revolution for black people. It is my job to talk about these things the way the mainstream media does not, so that people will be able to judge accordingly to what they find fit for the justice and fairness of how they’ll live their lives.
Well, I’ve stirred up some motivation with some of my peers. Now we’re inviting you to get involved with remembering why it’s important to fight for the rights against social injustice. So here’s how you can join the march with us:
Buy a $20 bus ticket used as donation to secure a seat for attendance.
Invite a friend to come with you and have them buy a ticket.
Arrive at the School Board of Education before the 6 AM bus departure. (200 E. North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202)
Take lots of photos of the history you’re sure to take place at The National Mall.
Post them online to motivate your friends.
Return to School Board of Education at 8 PM arrival.
It’s simple and worth your time and presence. Just think about your children.
If you have any further questions regarding this day trip, you’re invited to call 443-943-3309. You may also email your questions to either of the following emails.
