What About Baltimore?

My relationship to Baltimore has always been uncomfortable. Almost everybody knows each other. Some people believe the more people you know the less you’ll have to fear for yourself and family. This idea influenced people to join certain gangs and even took it as far as religion. Sad to say, this isn’t always the case. Just because you know certain people doesn’t mean you are safe. This is a “dog eat dog world”, a phrase I learned from Baltimore.  Along with learning from the streets my personality started to blend in with what I was taught at home. This created major problems and confusion.  In school I learned about the economy and so forth. I was taught why people were stressing about jobs, bills, and education. It was and still is a problem for today’s society. How can I qualify for a better job without my education, then how can I receive my education without a good paying job to help pay for it and make sure I’m stable enough to take care of myself and family? It’s arduous. Living in Baltimore is a daily struggle. You hear about all the ugly more than you hear about the positive. When I go to different states older people ask me about our Harbor Place and Johns Hopkins area. They’re always so amazed about how beautiful it is but how scared they are to come just because of something they heard about. I tell them watch our news station online or visit before judging, knowing that the majority of the time it’s not going to make a difference. They’re still going to feel the same way. Other than that life is great in Baltimore for me because it’s somewhere I grew up. I’m familiar with it, and I know how to stay away from trouble.

Nakita