Baltimore native Kevin Shird discussed his recent book, Uprising in the City: Made in America at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse on Saturday. The book explores the peaceful and violent protests in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray, one week after his April 2015 arrest.
Drawing on personal experience as an activist and Baltimorean, Shird sought to relay the emotional side of Gray’s story while also providing a historically accurate context.
“It was an easy book to write, but it was a painful book to write,” Shird said. “I wanted people to better understand our city... and better understand the anger and emotion of the people that were protesting in the streets.”
Shird cited poverty and the feeling of hopelessness that comes from growing up in a low-income area as the main reasons for citizens’ response to Gray’s death.
“It wasn’t just about Freddie Gray,” Shird said. “Freddie Gray was the match that lit the fire, but the fuel of anger and poverty and frustration and unemployment — that fuel has been laid down in Baltimore for years, for decades.”
Shird began his talk by paralleling the April 2015 Baltimore uprising with the Baltimore riots of April 1968 following the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. He believes that the emotions in the city have not changed and that many of the same social issues still persist.
“Many of us were shocked and surprised [at the uprising], but if you did your homework, you would have known this is the emotion that young people are carrying around our city,” he said. “They see their friends being shot. They see their friends going to prison. They see their friends getting hooked on drugs. They see their friends dropping out of school.”
He discussed how living in such an environment leads to a sense of despair about the future.
“I call it the ‘I’m next’ syndrome,” Shird said, “because these kids see their friends dying. They see their friends being taken off by the police. And they think, ‘I’m next.’”
Shird ended his talk by noting that while Gray’s death was tragic, it helped shed light on the city’s issues.
“As sad as it may be because a young man lost his life... It sparked a conversation, which sparked action,” he said.
Shird hopes his book will also help prevent the conversation surrounding race in Baltimore from fizzling out.
Uprising in the City is not Shird’s only publication to tackle the issues affecting Baltimore. His first book, Lessons of Redemption, is a memoir of his experiences growing up in the city and of how he was able to transform his life after serving time in prison.
“I grew up in West Baltimore in and out of trouble,” he said. “I grew up in that world. So now being able to go to Federal Hill and have dinner and going to Harbor East... I didn’t even know these worlds existed, and they are within my own city..”
Shird explained that this disparity in wealth leads to a disjoint in the community, which acts as a modern form of segregation.
In addition to being an author and activist, Shird is also a National Youth Advocate. He works on drug prevention education and aims to inspire young people to make positive choices in their lives.
Rianna Eckel, an organizer for Baltimore Food and Water Watch, said the talk was thought-provoking.
“It sparked a hundred thousand questions in my head,” Eckel said. “I feel like if anything it just points out how flawed our government is if something like the death of someone has to be what happens to get increased federal funding, to get programs to help schools.”
Bilal Ali, an employee at the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, was critical of the wealth disparity in the city.
“These issues are bigger than say, Freddie Gray, and you have a lot of Freddie Grays in Baltimore. It’s easy to isolate and say ‘Oh, you know what, my kids go to Hopkins. Oh that’s not my problem,’” Ali said. “I just think even with Johns Hopkins, one of the richest universities on the planet, and such a great research institution... with all the brainpower and all the financial resources that they have, they could do much more.”
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