I doubt not God is good, well-meaning kind.
And did He stoop to quibble could tell why.
The little buried mole continues blind.
– Countee Cullen
(BALTIMORE – November 5, 2022) – It is absolutely unfathomable that in a 62% Black city with a Black mayor, a Black City Council President, and a majority Black City Council where Democrats dominate 9-to-1, a 21st-century lynching of a Black community is taking place before our very eyes and City Councilwoman Odette Ramos is leading the charge like she is Gen. Andrew Jackson in Florida fighting Blacks and Seminoles.
What’s worse is that a community had to create Keep the Roland Water Tower Road OPEN! Gofundme just to continue their fight.
Hoe’s Heights, the historic Black community founded by Grandison Hoe in the early 1800s that is nestled between Roland Park to the north and Hampden to the south, reported the latest dastardly deed opposing their 100-plus-year access to Roland Avenue. According to Hoe’s Heights residents, an unknown “supporter” of Hoe’s Heights chained the plastic barriers to a fence so as to move them out of the way. Consequently, they were expeditiously replaced last week by concrete barriers within 3 days of their latest meeting with Ramos.
“The City never moves that fast,” said Joann Kent, a direct descendant of Hoe. Kent and the other members of the Hoe’s Heights Action Committee feel that Ramos is spearheading the blockage and totally sides with certain key players within the wealthy Roland Park community.
For the record, this is 2022. America has already elected a 2-term Black president, the State of Georgia has elected a Black man to the US Senate, and is working to elect its first Black governor. Maryland will likely elect its first Black governor this Tuesday, but one issue that has not changed is the attitude of people like Odette Ramos who epitomize the institutional racism that was actually created because of this very same community. Roland Park is Baltimore’s first suburban garden community. The ghost of Baltimore Mayor J. Barry Mahool (1907-1911) is creeping out of his racist grave again as the sins of the past try and haunt us.
According to Maryland.gov, Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos once worked for retired Maryland US Senator Barbara Mikulski. Mikulski was the toughest politician who did not let anything stop her from standing up and speaking out against wrongdoing.
Mikulski was absolutely fearless in her stances for truth and justice on behalf of this 2-to-1 Democratic state, and many of us will forever respect her tenacity, grit, and integrity as a leader of this 30% Black state.
Michelle Brown worked for Mikulski for years. When asked if Mikulski would ever support closing the Hoe’s Heights community’s 100-plus-year access to Roland Avenue, Brown adamantly replied, “That’s the exact thing she fought against!”
Brown, who noted that Victorine Adams was Mikulski’s mentor in City government, added, “No, I don’t believe now or ever that Barbara A. Mikulski was a racist and if you read about the beginning of her career, you will see where she worked with leaders from the Westside and others from the Eastside to make certain there wasn’t a divide.”
Mary Pat Clarke, the former Baltimore City Councilwoman who spent the night in the projects, also had a decent rapport with the Black community. Truth be told, it is hard to imagine that she would support such an ungodly act.
Ramos, who was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Albuquerque is clearly not aware that segregation in America started in this very same community. The founders attempted legislation in 1910 to try and stop Blacks from moving into white communities and also stop whites from moving into Black communities.
Thank God that George McMechen and Ashbie Hawkins, two Black lawyers, were there to fight for right … and win.
Sadly, Ramos is more a representation of Baltimore’s horrid past and less a picture of where this city can go. For years, Ramos struggled to win an election. Now that she has, this is how she acts. The people cannot trust a so-called public servant like this and should definitely find a better leader who is in touch with all constituents, not just those in Roland Park.
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