Senator Ben Cardin is hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday, September 3 at 10:30 AM at Morgan State University in the Student Center , Room 212. A number of issues will be discussed, including foreign policy..
www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.say02sep02,0,901571.story
baltimoresun.com
Clinging to love after looking down gun barrel
By Brendan Walsh
September 2, 2008
He pointed the gun in my face a few minutes before 5 a.m. . The gun was similar to the ones carried by the police. He was maybe 15 or 16 years old, and he mumbled, "This is for real," or something similar.
I had just started my daily two-mile exercise walk around Union Square Park on a recent Tuesday. When you walk at 5 a.m., you escape the heat and the dangerous rays of the sun.
When the young man stopped me, I was directly across the street from the front door of Steuart Hill Academic Academy , the school where Mayor Sheila Dixon once taught. The young man was riding on the back of a bicycle, and his friend was doing the pedaling.
They approached me from the rear. The surprise was overwhelming, and my fear is impossible to explain. With the gun staring me in the face, I thought this was my last walk. This was the way my 40 years of living and working in Southwest Baltimore were going to end.
I was wearing old, gray gym shorts, well-worn running shoes and a T-shirt bearing the words "Grampa Rocks," a gift from my three granddaughters.
Immediately, I turned the pockets of my shorts inside-out, showing the youngster I had no money and carried only a house key. I purposely did not make eye contact, did not raise my voice, and tried not to panic. My daughter always tells her three daughters to "use their words and not their hands" when faced with conflict. I explained to the young man that I was just getting some exercise.
And then he let me go. "Just go home then," he muttered. He walked back to the bike, and the two young men disappeared down South Gilmor Street .
So there you have it. In the morning darkness, a teenager is telling a 65-year-old grandpa to "Just go home."
I walked to West Lombard Street and noticed a couple getting into their car. I explained what just happened, urged them to be careful, and requested a ride to Viva House, only a block away.
I don't know why he let me go - why I wasn't killed or badly beaten. Was it the words on my shirt? Did he recognize me from Viva House? Maybe he, or some relative or friend, shared a meal at our soup kitchen, or carried home groceries from our pantry. I'll never know.
In the last 40 years, thousands of Baltimoreans have been murdered. Even more have experienced terrible violence. I thought it was my turn.
In October, we will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Viva House. During these years, more than 1 million people have shared meals at our table, more than 55,000 families have carried home groceries from our food pantry, and more than 3,000 people (mostly homeless women and children) have lived with us.
We just hung a banner on the front of our house. It reads simply: "Love One Another." I am not giving up on that idea.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center , 325 E. 25th St. , Baltimore , MD 21218 . Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at]verizon.net
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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