This past weekend, the city of Baltimore became a protesting ground. The message was the same as it has been around the country in recent months: Black lives matter.
Twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray, a Black Baltimore resident, died April 19 after suffering a severe spinal cord injury during an arrest one week earlier. An ongoing investigation into the incident has identified several missteps by the police in the handling of the case.
But for many Baltimore residents, like many around the country, the acknowledgement is not enough. There has been little accountability for these incidents, and seemingly every week, there is a new report of another Black man dying at the hands of those sent to protect and serve.
The African American History and Culture museum is slated to open in the fall of 2016, but Bunch said the museum staff has a responsibility to have educational conversations about things that directly impact the history and culture of African-Americans even in the absence of a physical building. As such, the museum hosted the “History, Rebellion and Reconciliation” symposium Saturday at the neighboring National Museum of the American Indian to get the conversation going.
“This violence, this loss of life, is not just an issue in the African-American community,” said Bunch, who added that the open season on Black men in this country presents a problem for the American Indian and Hispanic communities as well because it reflects an intrinsic problem with the fabric of this country.
“This happened in Ferguson or Baltimore, but it’s a national issue,” he added.
