National

Baltimoreans Reflect on Freddie Gray and Their City

Published

11 years ago

April 28, 2015

Family members of Freddie Gray, sister Fredricka Gray, left, mother Gloria Darden, center, and stepfather Richard Shipley listen during a news conference after a day of unrest following the funeral of Freddie Gray on Monday, April 27, 2015, in Baltimore. Rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

by E.R. Shipp
Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspaper

Between the bodacious demands of young people practically demanding that York Road motorists honk their horns to honor Freddie Gray and the curiosity of a young boy asking his buddies, “Did you see the body yet?”, many of those gathered at the Vaughn Greene Funeral Home Sunday afternoon were in the mood to reflect.

Sitting near the rear of the chapel, Milton Stokes spoke of the boy he knew in Pop Warner football when Gray played for the Sandtown Wolverines and later at Carver High when Stokes played linebacker and Gray played wide receiver. They were members of Carver’s Class of 2008. “

He was a great kid. He had a lot of jokes, a lot of friends. Never got in no trouble in high school.”

The Freddie Carlos Gray being remembered was not the one depicted in cold court files as someone arrested more than a dozen times on drug charges.

Looking toward the small, almost unnatural looking figure in the open casket that scores of people walked past, Stokes, who now lives in Owings Mills and works in construction, could not figure out why so many police officers thought it necessary to take him down with such force – and how his encounter with them left him dead with a broken spine.

“It’s not just Freddie Gray,” Stokes said quietly. Because abuses “have been going on for years,” he said, “the city should reconsider who they hire as policemen.”

And then, like so many people inside the chapel and outside, he had a story to tell about unwarranted harassment by the police. In his case, it has happened when he was standing on a Sandtown corner visiting friends. He agrees with his pastor, the Rev, Jamal Bryant of Empowerment Temple that 95 percent of the police are probably doing the right thing. “The bad ones make it look bad for the good ones we have.”

When 34-yeear-old Yvonne Smith last saw Gray, he had told her: “You need to get yourself together.” That was more than seven-and-a-half months ago, when she was still abusing heroin, methadone and prescription drugs. “Before I had an opportunity to show him and tell him that I took his advice, he was gone.”

Smith said she and Gray grew up together in Gilmor Homes. “He never thought I would go down that path of life that I did, but he never judged me,” she said. Smith, who said she is now in school pursuing an associate’s degree, describes a Freddie Gray who was “always willing to lend a helping hand.”

Others who came to pay their respects did not know Freddie Gray or his family but felt compelled by those “there but for the grace of God” incidents in their own lives.

Shawnell Booker, 22-year-old nursing assistant who lives in Park Heights, said a cousin reached a settlement with the city after being beaten by the police and that she was pulled out of a car and roughed up by an undercover officer last June. But these experiences have convinced her to become politically active “in every election, big and small.”

“My generation, people my age, I think we need to step up. We get enraged and it blows over and we don’t get enraged until something else happens,” she said. “We should step out of that mind frame that we’ll stand in line for Jordans and, you know, stand up for our rights because they don’t take us seriously.”

Eric Brown Jr., 25, has reached a similar conclusion. As he held his 2-year-old niece, Dream Byrd, he waved a sign and yelled at drivers passing by, “Justice for Freddie!”

Brown, who lives a couple of blocks from the funeral home, explained that the “justice for Freddie” actions marked his first time taking such a public stand. “Something’s got to change,” he said. “We can’t keep allowing this police brutality against our young Black brothers.”

Andre Kennedy, who came to the wake to pray for his community and his city, agrees. But the 47-year-old life-long resident of West Baltimore, who describes himself as a former drug addict, dealer and thief who has been arrested and convicted “numerous times,” does not view police solely as enemies. He points to where Black people have been killed by other Blacks, “slaughtered by street violence.” Nearby, he recalled, 3-year-old McKenzie Elliott was gunned down in crossfire while sitting on a porch. That has convinced him that most people still rely on the police to protect them.

“If the majority of us go back to our homes this evening and things are violated and somebody has been wronged or hurt, we’re going to call 9-1-1. We’re going to call them,” he insisted. “So should we really always shift the blame to one arena or should we begin to look at all arenas?”

While most of those who came out for Freddy Gray and for their city were Black, a noticeable group of White Baltimoreans stood vigilantly in front of the Govans post office building across from the funeral home, holding their own homemade signs with messages like, “Baltimore Is One City” and “We Remember Freddie” and “Black Lives Matter.”

Shannon Curran was there with her husband Joseph Capista, and their children, Moira, 6 and Aoife, 2. Veterans of anti-capital punishment and anti-war campaigns, Curran explained their support for the Gray family. “We’re one human family and they’re part of our family,” she said. “This is a loss to everyone and hopefully a tipping point for there to be some real transformation.”

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COMMENTARY: The National Protest Must Be Accompanied with Our Votes

Just as Trump is gathering election data like having the FBI take all the election data in Georgia from the 2020 election, so must we organize in preparation for the coming primary season to have the right people on ballots in each Republican district, so that we can regain control of the House of Representatives and by doing so, restore the separation of powers and balance that our democracy is being deprived of.

Published

6 days ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. File photo..

By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper

As thousands of Americans march every week in cities across this great nation, it must be remembered that the protest without the vote is of no concern to Donald Trump and his administration.

In every city, there is a personal connection to the U.S. Congress. In too many cases, the member of Congress representing the people of that city and the congressional district in which it sits, is a Republican. It is the Republicans who are giving silent support to the destructive actions of those persons like the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of Homeland Security, and the National Intelligence Director, who are carrying out the revenge campaign of the President rather than upholding the oath of office each of them took “to Defend The Constitution of the United States.”

In California, the primary comes in June 2026. The congressional races must be a priority just as much as the local election of people has been so important in keeping ICE from acquiring facilities to build more prisons around the country.

“We the People” are winning this battle, even though it might not look like it. Each of us must get involved now, right where we are.

In this Black History month, it is important to remember that all we have accomplished in this nation has been “in spite of” and not “because of.” Frederick Douglas said, “Power concedes nothing without a struggle.”

Today, the struggle is to maintain our very institutions and history. Our strength in this struggle rests in our “collectiveness.” Our newspapers and journalists are at the greatest risk. We must not personally add to the attack by ignoring those who have been our very foundation, our Black press.

Are you spending your dollars this Black History Month with those who salute and honor contributions by supporting those who tell our stories? Remember that silence is the same as consent and support for the opposition. Where do you stand and where will your dollars go?

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Activism

Congresswoman Simon Votes Against Department of Homeland Security, ICE Funding

“They need accountability. Republicans already gave these agencies an unprecedented $170 billion for immigration enforcement, funding they have used to conduct raids at schools, separate families, and deploy a masked paramilitary who refuse to identify themselves on American streets. This bill gives them more funding without a single reform to stop unconstitutional, immoral abuses,” she said.

Published

6 days ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12). File photo.

By Post Staff

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) released a statement after voting against legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB).

“Today, I voted NO on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 13, 2026.

“ICE and CBP do not need more funding to terrorize communities or kill more people,” she said in the media release.

“They need accountability. Republicans already gave these agencies an unprecedented $170 billion for immigration enforcement, funding they have used to conduct raids at schools, separate families, and deploy a masked paramilitary who refuse to identify themselves on American streets. This bill gives them more funding without a single reform to stop unconstitutional, immoral abuses,” she said.

“The American people are demanding change. Poll after poll of Americans’ opinions show overwhelming support for requiring ICE agents to wear body cameras and prohibiting them from hiding their faces during enforcement actions. This is the bare minimum transparency standard, and this funding legislation does not even meet this low bar,” Simon said.

“Republicans in Congress are not serious about reining in these lawless agencies. Their refusal to make meaningful changes to the DHS funding bill has consequences that go beyond immigration enforcement. TSA agents who keep our airports safe and FEMA workers who help our communities recover from disasters are stuck in limbo due to Republican inaction.

“The Constitution does not have an exception for immigrants. Every person on American soil has rights, and federal agencies must respect them. The East Bay has made clear at the Alameda County and city level that we will hold the line against a violent ICE force and support our immigrant communities – I will continue to hold the line and our values with my votes in Congress.”

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Activism

Post Newspaper Invites NNPA to Join Nationwide Probate Reform Initiative

The Post’s Probate Reform Group meets the first Thursday of every month via Zoom and invites the public to attend. The Post is making the initiative national and will submit information from its monthly meeting to the NNPA to educate, advocate, and inform its readers.

Published

6 days ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Tanya Dennis

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) represents the Black press with over 200 newspapers nationwide.

Last night the Post announced that it is actively recruiting the Black press to inform the public that there is a probate “five-alarm fire” occurring in Black communities and invited every Black newspaper starting from the Birmingham Times in Alabama to the Milwaukee Times Weekly in Wisconsin, to join the Post in our “Year of Action” for probate reform.

Reporter Tanya Dennis says, “The adage that ‘When America catches a cold, Black folks catch the flu” is too true in practice; that’s why we’re engaging the Black Press to not only warn, but educate the Black community regarding the criminal actions we see in probate court: Thousands are losing generational wealth to strangers. It’s a travesty that happens daily.”

Venus Gist, a co-host of the reform group, states, “ Unfortunately, people are their own worst enemy when it comes to speaking with loved ones regarding their demise. It’s an uncomfortable subject that most avoid, but they do so at their peril. The courts rely on dissention between family members, so I encourage not only a will and trust [be created] but also videotape the reading of your documents so you can show you’re of sound mind.”

In better times, drafting a will was enough; then a trust was an added requirement to ‘iron-clad’ documents and to assure easy transference of wealth.

No longer.

As the courts became underfunded in the last 20 years, predatory behavior emerged to the extent that criminality is now occurring at alarming rates with no oversight, with courts isolating the conserved, and, I’ve heard, many times killing conservatees for profit. Plundering the assets of estates until beneficiaries are penniless is also common.”

Post Newspaper Publisher Paul Cobb says, “The simple solution is to avoid probate at all costs. If beneficiaries can’t agree, hire a private mediator and attorney to work things out. The moment you walk into court, you are vulnerable to the whims of the court. Your will and trust mean nothing.”

Zakiya Jendayi, a co-host of the Probate Reform Group and a victim herself, says, “In my case, the will and trust were clear that I am the beneficiary of the estate, but the opposing attorney said I used undue influence to make myself beneficiary. He said that without proof, and the judge upheld the attorney’s baseless assertion. In court, the will and trust is easily discounted.”

The Black press reaches out to 47 million Black Americans with one voice. The power of the press has never been so important as it is now in this national movement to save Black generational wealth from predatory attorneys, guardians and judges.

The next probate reform meeting is on March 5, from 7 – 9 p.m. PST. Zoom Details:
Meeting ID: 825 0367 1750
Passcode: 475480

All are welcome.