OBAMA IN BALTIMORE!

On January 17th, 2009 President-elect Barack Obama came to Baltimore!

From Obama stops in Baltimore

The coldest day I’ve spent outside in Baltimore may very well have been the warmest welcome. In temperatures well below freezing thousands of people gathered to greet and listen to President-elect Barack Obama give a brief speech at the War Memorial in downtown. It was the Inaugural Whistle-Stop Tour to Baltimore.

I had to go. I had to see and be apart of the event firsthand. After muddling through crowds and metal detectors for two hours, I spent another two and a half hours standing in my spot to hear Obama speak. Bitter winds kept people’s shoulders tensed to the point of aching and strangers huddled together to get the children and older women warm. Foreign students came out completely unprepared for the cold but said how they couldn’t have missed a day like today.

The crowds were overwhelmingly Black and African-American, but you wouldn’t have seen the color of crowd at a glance. You would have seen the smiles and high spirits. I went by myself and had many short but meaningful conversations with strangers. Women from Wilmington, a man from NYC, many people from Baltimore, a student from Russia, and a young Black man behind me who couldn’t help himself from crying when Obama delivered his speech.

From Obama stops in Baltimore

We laughed with stiff cheeks at the “fake-out” introductions when people other than Obama came out. The Oriole bird mascot... what were they thinking! It was hilarious. Followed by a fitness trainer trying to us warm up with exercise, which really did help. City Councilmen, Governor O’Malley, Elijah Cummings, and the Morgan State Choir came beforehand.

From Obama stops in Baltimore

From Obama stops in Baltimore

From Obama stops in Baltimore

Around 4:30pm, the crowd comfortably pushed forward when Obama came out. Michele, Joe and Jill Biden were close behind. His speech was short and succinct. A message that America is constantly under a Revolution that all Americans need to be willing fight for... a fight to change for the better. He said,
“...the American Revolution did not end when British guns fell silent. It was never something to be won only on a battlefield or fulfilled only in our founding documents. It was not simply a struggle to break free from empire and declare independence. The American Revolution was - and remains - an ongoing struggle "in the minds and hearts of the people" to live up to our founding creed”

After six hours in the cold, I was back in my apartment drinking my third cup of hot tea and looking at my pictures. They aren’t spectacular, but they are the only pictures from that exact point of view... and I’m happy to have them.

From Obama stops in Baltimore

Baltimore Metro is Puke

I have maybe half a dozen other topics I need/what to write about. Either sad, informative, blissful, encouraging, amusing... AHHHHHHHHH! All I have is animosity for Baltimore's Metro system tonight.

ONE metro line.
FOURTEEN stops.
MILLIONS of problems.

I went to Target at Mondawmin Mall to buy a water kettle and on the way back, the metro line had stopped dead in the tracks. No announcement, no indication of repair. I went up and asked when would it be running and the nasty woman told me it wasn't, and that I just have to pay attention to the train direction b/c they're only running on one track. After 30minutes, a train finally meanders by. The entire way to Lexington stop (I think 4 stops) this miserable conductor kept slamming on the brakes and stopping for only God knows what.

I swear to Heaven, Earth, and all that there is that Baltimore is completely incompetent with the issues in front of them. On a daily basis, at least 3 escalators are malfunctioning. Trains break-down or don't show for extended periods of time. The gates for tickets are in a constant state of disrepair and display a "Touch and Go" system that I recently found out was supposed to be turned on three years ago. THREE YEARS!


I know this is ranting, but as a person lacking a vehicle, Baltimore is really turning out to be a pithole. I came in really wanting to love this tiny city... "Charm City". But everyday I walk down the alternating, sometimes broken, escalators. Then its a lottery as to whether I'll pick the functional gate or not and push in my ticket which can only be paid for with cash. And then I wait for a train which may or may not be working and watch as the conductor ducks his head out the side of the train to "check and make sure e'rytings awe-right."

Good morning Bmore! Cities around the globe have intensely more difficult systems to contend with and manage them well... Paris, Madrid, NYC, Chicago, Seoul. They have less than half the problems throughout their entire grid. Bmore... can't handle one single ridiculous metro line.

There is nothing beautiful about it. Esthetically stale, mechanically disabled, actively declining. Unfortunately, I feel the same way about this city.