Woznation

I’m not sure if this is really blog worthy, but we had enough people call or text to check on us, that I wanted to write a quick note —

There were some riots in Baltimore on April 26th-28th over the Death of Freddie Gray. He died on April 19th in police custody.  There were plenty of protests near the courthouse in the week prior to his funeral. Liz purposefully avoided going to any of the museums which would take her downtown, not because of safety concerns, but to avoid blocked streets and traffic jams.  Everything was mostly peaceful until Sunday the 26th, the day of the funeral, and then some crowds started to riot.  Still, there were only a few situations miles and miles away. But then at like 7 or 8pm things got worse downtown and started to drift eastward. There was a huge fire near Hopkins (about 2 miles from our place), with a lot of rioters, masked men with guns, etc. They closed Baltimore City schools (and Wils schools) on Tuesday as a precaution. We heard nonstop police and fire trucks until probably 2am that night. Originally Hopkins was to open late but eventually made the decision to close for the day. I was off anyway,  so it didnt really disrupt my schedule. On Tuesday, they had brought in the nation guard.  So we had people like this walking all over campus for the next few days:

They even closed the Os game to the public.  Unprecedented.

BALTIMORE, MD – APRIL 29: Chris Davis #19 of the Baltimore Orioles hits a three-run home run in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 29, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. The game was played without spectators due to the social unrest in Baltimore. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Baltimore is a big place.  Most of the city was unscathed. Everything was very quiet and calm in patterson park where we live. And everything seemed completely back to normal on Tuesday afternoon. We were out at the tot lot at 2pm and it was like nothing ever happened.  We never once felt unsafe. We did not see any violence first hand. The news was focused on a very small pocket of rioters that were nowhere near us. Life was very normal for us.

Thats not to say horrible things didnt happen in Baltimore.  There were plenty of unsafe neighborhoods, and the damage from the riots is having a crippling effect on certain parts of the city.  It was a very sad few days in Baltimore and the city is just starting to take steps to heal.  It will be awhile before things are back to normal for many people.