(BALTIMORE – September 22, 2024)—Nine years ago, I bought my first house in Baltimore with no intent to buy more. Then I saw that a prominent figure was buying up properties in my neighborhood, so I figured there must be a plan, so I bought other houses (I’d seen this before in NY and DC). Then I tried to get others to buy over here, but no one was interested.
Then I started being bothered that for a city that was 60+% Black, there was not an area that we controlled and where we all could hang out. I had this idea that I wanted to build a Black Wall Street. So, after years of prodding, I convinced another Jamaican property owner to sell me a block of properties. I raised capital from friends and family and bought the block.
Then, when I was running for city council, apart from the obvious issue of vacancies, I realized the lack of economic activity in these communities. So, I bought a beautiful historic commercial building I plan to make into a financial hub to allow various businesses, artists, and entrepreneurs to operate. In those nine years, I’ve been publicly called a gentrifier (specifically “the face of gentrification”) and a carpetbagger. This hasn’t been some master plan; I’ve just been figuring it out every step of the way. I see gaps, and I try to solve them the best way I know how, even to my own financial detriment. I take one step after the other…but after almost ten years, it finally feels like it’s coming together. I hope y’all will join me.
Photo by Venroy July
