The city of Baltimore is in a social crisis, and one demographic is voiceless even though it may have answers to solve Baltimore’s problems. Young people ages 14-25 in so-called “urban communities” — a media code for Black communities — are key to Baltimore City’s future. However, those same young people are barely at the table when critical decisions are being made.
Young people in those communities are often described as violent, scary, ruthless, disrespectful, ignorant, or even as thugs. Most of those descriptions come from individuals who are too scared to even talk to these young people to get their perspective. Yet, these same young people make up a large share of the city’s population: 62.3% of those who live in Baltimore are African-American. Given that the city is predominantly Black, you would think that young Black voices would be heard.
But that never seems to be the case.
Given that the city is predominantly Black, you would think that young Black voices would be heard. But that never seems to be the case.
Back in 2019, I visited a FOX45 News ‘City In Crisis’ Town Hall at Coppin State University for the 2020 mayoral elections. The campaign season had just started, and this was the first town hall. Among the topics discussed were crime and education. This particular election was so important because Baltimore was still recovering from the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, who was only 25 years old when he died in police custody, and the 2017 revelation of the corrupt Gun Trace Task Force that had been terrorizing and incriminating people from “urban communities” for years.
For me, it was important to go to this town hall because I felt the media continued to paint a bad narrative of young people since the riots in 2015. I was invited by a friend, Antonio Moore, who is an active community leader and mentor for young Black men in Baltimore. Moore was present alongside another community leader, Uncle T, and members of Uncle T’s youth organization Challenge2Change. We were the only young people present at the town hall. We all jumped in line behind Uncle T to ask the candidates what their plans for our future were. As a representative of the youth, Uncle T expressed his frustrations with the city and the absence of leadership in communities. I was supposed to speak next, but, after his wise words, the town hall ended.
I was devastated. I had wanted to express myself but was not allowed to. I was one of the only young people in a room where the entire conversation was about young people, yet I was not allowed to offer my perspective. No young person was.
That moment sparked a fire within me. Moore and I later pitched an idea to the Heart Smiles nonprofit organization and the Youth Advisory Board for Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health about having our own town hall, since Fox45 didn’t want to hear our opinions. Immediately, both entities took action, partnering with other organizations and schools such as Community Law In Action and the Friends School of Baltimore. We, as young people, were able to successfully plan “My Mayor Must,” Baltimore’s first youth-led townhall series, involving all mayoral candidates. Young people were now able to question candidates about their plans for the city. I was even able to finally express myself to Fox45 about my thoughts and concerns towards Baltimore.
Some may think that the young people in “urban communities” are too “ignorant” or “unaware” of what’s going on in politics.
Some may think that the young people in “urban communities” are too “ignorant” or “unaware” of what’s going on in politics. That could be true for some due to the lack of resources in those communities. However, from my experience, I can say that our young people are interested in what’s going on in politics, but it’s simply hard for them to share their perspectives with others who don’t understand them.
As a young Black person from Baltimore, I have witnessed older generations show fear in the presence of young people from these communities. I have witnessed young people get ignored simply because the adults in the room couldn’t understand their language. I have also witnessed young people create plans to change their communities because they were tired of being tired — but, because there were little to no outlets or resources to help bring those plans to life, they were tossed to the side.
Dion Brandon, a young person and also a cousin of mine, participated in the town hall and expressed his frustrations about gun violence. “The only place teenagers can really go is outside on the block,” said Dion during an interview with WMAR before the first town hall began. “They are doing something they don’t got no business doing because they got nowhere beneficial that they can go to.”
Dion was an active member of Heart Smiles. He was a good kid who experienced trauma due to his surroundings and community. Three years after the town hall, on January 20, 2023, Dion lost his life due to gun violence, the same topic he spoke about during his interview. Our young people want to be heard and are expressing themselves, but their expression gets ignored.
For this election season, I hope city officials and candidates for office really listen to the cries of young people — particularly young Black people. We are desperate to be heard. Allow us to speak and help make change. I hope many young people continue to speak and create change even when others won’t allow them to. With their input and activism, they can potentially change our city’s narrative.
Keniera Wagstaff is a creative storyteller and community leader born and raised in East Baltimore. She is 23 and a graduating senior from Morgan State University.
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