Multicultural : Buzz

Baltimore may have had its share of challenges when it comes to race relations.

But Charm City has come a long way and is now more progressive than its counterparts throughout the nation, according to the Daily Beast. The website ranked Baltimore No. 5 in its list of 20 most tolerant cities. Miami, San Francisco, Honolulu and Durham, N.C. ranked above Baltimore.

The Daily Beast looked at the number of hate crimes, same-sex couples and the percentage of African Americans and Asian residents. You can read more about Baltimore's status here.

South Baltimore native Matthew VanDyke is set to leave Libya in a couple of weeks, his mother told the Baltimore Sun after the death of Libya's former leader last week. The 32-year-old who was jailed in Libya for nearly six months and then stayed on to join the rebels seeking to overthrow dictator Moammar Gadhafi — plans to come home "in a couple of weeks," said his mother, Sharon VanDyke. Read the entire post here.

Many fans of the former HBO drama "The Wire" consider the program thought provoking. Students and a professor at Johns Hopkins University agree. In fact, they are devoting an entire class to the drama. The show will help students understand the problems that big cities face, according to an Associated Press story that appeared in the Washington Post.

The creator of the Baltimore-based crime drama, David Simon, has been a guest speaker in the class. You can read the rest of the story here.

Baltimore's CityLit Project will host its annual literary festival this weekend, bringing joy to all of the area's literary-minded folks, including Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books' Heather J., Ambassador of Books.

Here's an excerpt:

"I'm planning to be there for most of the day. If you are within driving distance I'd love to meet you and hang out for all/part of the day! Let me know in the comments if you're planning to attend and we can coordinate our schedule. I can't wait!!!"

Read the entire post here.
Check out the CityLit site here.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon refused to let a slur against her city made by a British member of Parliament go uncontested. The Liberal Conspiracy reports on her response.

An excerpt from the blog posting reads:

The Mayor of Baltimore has hit back at Tory MP Chris Grayling over comparing parts of Britain to The Wire.

In a statement posted to her website, Sheila Dixon said Baltimore had a per capita homicide rate "a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders."

The statement read:

"Fellow citizens

This week I was alerted to a speech made by a Member of the British Parliament, a Mr. Chris Grayling, who suggested his country should fear becoming like our city of Baltimore as portrayed in the HBO series, The Wire. We all watched The Wire and while it was sometimes a heart-breaking reflection of reality, it was in the main, merely entertaining fiction.

The television show failed to reflect the best we have in this city, our sense of community, our hospitality and our proud history and culture. To present a television show as the real Baltimore is to perpetuate a fiction that dishonours our city. It is as pointless as boasting that Baltimore has a per capita homicide rate a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders."

Read the full blog posting here.

A Baltimore book-lover and a moderator at the city's book festival this year declares that it drives her "crazy" that D.C. and Baltimore host their book festivals on the same weekend each year. She provides a "pro" and "con" list for each of the events to help readers make a choice between the two.

An excerpt from the blog posting reads:

Baltimore Book Festival

Pros

- it is a three day event (Sept. 25-27)
- it is not a "big crowd" event - people are definitely attending but not in overwhelming numbers
- chances for author interaction are very good - crowds are not large and authors usually hang around to chat afterward
- Baltimore has lots of historical sightseeing and museums
- if it rains, you're walking on cobblestones not mud
- parking is moderately priced and very close to the Festival
- my panel, The Book Club Toolkit, is on 9/26 @ noon
- a book blogger get-together is being planned for Friday evening (9/25) - we'll go to the YA panels and then who knows what we'll do! (Leave a comment if you'd like to be included.)

Baltimore Book Festival - Cons

- public transportation is not as extensive as in DC
- many participating authors are not very well known
- it is a much smaller scaled event than the DC one

What? You say I'm little biased toward the Baltimore event? REALLY?! I didn't think so ... :)

Read the entire posting here.

Award-winning blogger Mike Hitchen reports on a Baltimore-based soccer tournament, sponsored by the International Rescue Committee, that is allowing kids who have escaped conflict-ravaged countries to play soccer free from danger. Hitchen reports that plans are underway to create a permanent refugee soccer league -- a Peace League -- in Baltimore.

An excerpt from the blog post reads:

A soccer tournament is underway on a field next to a busy street in Baltimore, an hour or so outside of Washington, DC. Four teams of teenage boys are competing for ribbons and a gold cup. They could be from anywhere, but these teens are all refugees from conflict zones - Iraqis, Burmese, Bhutanese, and Meskhetian Turks.

Marwan Saleh plays defense for the Iraqi team, the "Tigers." The 17-year-old left his homeland nine months ago. "There, there's war. We don't have a chance to play soccer," he explains. "It's my chance to play soccer. We cannot live there. We don't have jobs. We cannot study; we cannot do anything. There's war, there's shooting, there are guns, gangs, the army, fighting between people. Here's better for us - safe. We can study. We can do anything here. Here is the future."

Read the entire post here:

A member of the online forum This Alley Life! visits Baltimore for the first time in more than 15 years and comments on the amiableness of the city's African Americans and their dedication to preserving and celebrating Black history.

Excerpt:

Despite the recent news that Baltimore is one of the most dangerous cities to live, and that many violent events have happened here...I have to say that the Black population in Baltimore is STILL friendlier than that of other densely populated Black urban areas that I've visited (Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington, DC Area). Even when I visited in the early 90s, people always spoke...they smiled and said hello (it's seems like a more common occurrence in Baltimore). I don't even get that in my city.

Even though Baltimore has some rough areas, it's one of the few places where there is visible recognition of Black history (little noted notables) - the slavery museum, the murals, etc. The distinct cultural beat that has pretty much disappeared from the area I grew up in, mostly Black, is still visible in Baltimore.

Read the complete posting and reader comments here.