One Love
I am a native Baltimorean and proud of it.
I was born and raised here and like many of you I’ve never left.
Our city is historic and on so many levels entwined in the fabric of our nation’s heritage.
But somewhere along the way, we’ve lost our way as a city.
That wasn’t true on January 28, 2001.
I will never forget the celebration after the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. That victory was our collective reward for years without a football team of our own – unfairly having our football heritage torn to shreds and our colors transplanted in the Midwest.
The celebration was clearly about a victory, about a championship, but it went deeper than that.
It was about civic pride.
Cast aside by many as a pit stop on the way to Philadelphia or as the people on the wrong side of the tracks from DC, Baltimoreans for too long were labeled second-rate by the ignorant and uninformed.
Friends and family gathered in the streets on that epic night and they embraced other fans, strangers only moments earlier, but now brothers sharing a bond – a love of Baltimore.
For one moment in time all of our differences were forgotten and we all were skin-color blind. We showed the world what we were made of.
I remember a random report about an arrest – the only arrest made during that January night. A man was found urinating in public. No public burnings of property; no violence, just a pure celebration and everyone was invited.
The night wasn’t about you or me. It was about “us”. We came together as one galvanized by a common love.
Today our city faces a greater foe than the New York Giants. The challenges are more daunting. Yet together we must find a way, we must come together as one like we did over 14 years ago.
Let’s not ask what’s in it for me.
Instead let’s ask what’s in it for us.
Can we, for a moment in time, cast aside the hate, draw back the finger of blame, squash the hidden agendas, forget about political persuasion and simply focus upon our city’s greater good? Let’s not allow the casualties suffered already go to waste. Let’s allow them to fuel dialogue that results in fair solutions.
We’ve bonded before when there was less at stake.
Let’s once again show the world what we’re made of.
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