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Dear Friends,
In response to the tragic death of Freddie Gray, the Fellowship of Reconciliation has been in Baltimore this week working closely with Baltimore United for Change – a broad coalition of concerned citizens and organizations working for justice.
On Sunday night, May 3rd, FOR led a training in nonviolent civil disobedience under the leadership of this coalition.
This work reflects our grassroots partnerships toward the struggle for black liberation in St. Louis, Hartford, Boston, New York, and elsewhere. In each of these communities, FOR has helped build movement infrastructure, provide training in nonviolent civil disobedience, and participate in de-escalation in tense encounters between protestors and police.
Members of Baltimore United for Change have long sought to work through the electoral and legislative channels of change. Earlier this year, coalition members testified in the state capital, Annapolis, to advocate for over a dozen bills to curb and prevent police brutality and harassment in black communities.
Each piece of legislation that would have encouraged systemic change was defeated or died in committee. As Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III of Baltimore United for Change reported on Sunday night, several of these proposed bills were dumped just days before Freddie Gray was arrested and died.
Now the Baltimore United coalition is broadening its approach to include the nonviolent resistance tactic of civil disobedience and is calling for our support, participation, and solidarity.
This week there are several opportunities to connect and support the grassroots movement happening on the ground.
Baltimore United for Change in partnership with FOR presents:
Sunday, May 10: Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Training at Metropolitan United Methodist Church
Monday, May 11: Mass Meeting featuring Dr. Cornel West at Metropolitan UMC
Tuesday, May 12: Community Mobilization (Info TBA)
Baltimore United for Change particularly requests the presence of clergy this coming week.
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"Baltimore was burned down and boarded up before the uprisings. The people there, however, do not identify as victims; they are among the most resilient people I have ever encountered," says Anthony Grimes, co-founder of the Denver Freedom Riders and a FOR National Council member, who just returned from Baltimore. "As our global freedom movement continues, Baltimore must remain at the center of our consciousness, particularly in the face of massive community disinvestment.”
Please reinvest in grassroots work in Baltimore:
DONATE:
MOBILIZE:
PARTICIPATE:
- Come to Baltimore to attend the May 11 mass meeting and to support the grassroots organizing and protests happening on the ground.
- Join me and FOR colleagues, including Rev. Kristin Stoneking, Gretchen Honnold, Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, and more for this national mobilization.
All are welcome!
In the cause of justice,
Ethan Vesely-Flad
Director of National Organizing
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Denver Freedom Riders and FOR staff in Baltimore from left to right - Kamau Waset, Gretchen Honnold, Corean Adams, Anthony Grimes, and Ethan Vesely-Flad.
Photo credits: Rev. Sekou training at Metropolitan UMC on May 3 courtesy of Gretchen Honnold; BUC fliers courtesy of Baltimore United for Change website; Minneapolis, MN march in solidarity with Baltimore courtesy of Fibonacci Blue of Creative Commons.
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