BALTIMORE — 10 years ago today, the unrest following Freddie Gray’s death reached a fever pitch, leaving an unforgettable mark on the city and becoming a catalyst for change.
On the anniversary of the height of the uprising, community leaders reflected on how far the city has come and how far is left to go at the Sharon Baptist Church in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, where Gray called home.
“It was the ugliest day ever in this city, but so much has happened since then," community journalist Doni Glover said.
VIDEO: Community leaders reflect on work after Freddie Gray unrest
Before progress came, there was undeniable pain.
"Police were flying across Hilton Street heading towards Mondawmin, and when we got there, it was the young people from Douglas; the rocks are being thrown," Corey Barnes recalled. "We knew that it was boiling.”
“We needed to engage youth and support youth in that moment," Ashiah Parker said.
It was in these moments of turmoil, a new generation of leadership found each other and their purpose in their community.
“It's our life. It's our mission. It's our ministries to serve in Sandtown every day," Parker, the executive director of the No Boundaries Coalition, said.
“We're just gonna keep on working and working and working and working until we reach all of our residents and until our neighborhoods are vibrant and until we are striving and surviving on our own terms here in West Baltimore," she added.
Sunday's event, hosted by the Santown-Winchester Community Collective, highlighted the collective work across the board that led to change that is noticeable in the decade since the uprising.
Barnes is the director of operations of the We Our Us movement.
“Baltimore city police cannot do it alone. There's no community agency that can do it alone. There's no public agency that can do it alone. There's no philanthropy that can do it alone, but when we all come together, we can really have a true impact on our city, and that's what I think is the result of what you're seeing right now," he said.
Advocates acknowledge things are nowhere near perfect.
But it is the ongoing work that should be celebrated.
They called on others to take action to keep it going.
"We are not called to congregation; we are called to community, and that's where our passion should be,"Pastor Angelic Williams at the St. Luke's United Methodist Church said. "No matter how much money you got, no matter how big your church or how small your church is, there is no excuse for doing nothing."
“Baltimore is a better Baltimore, and it can get better, and so that’s why we shall continue to strive to do our very best," Bishop of the Lord's Church Kevia Elliot said.
