IT IS DIFFICULT TO LIMIT the number of people who deserve thanks, praise, and deepest appreciation for their support with the writing of this book and their support of me as I went through the process of telling these stories. The first people I have to thank are the eight people who shared their lives and their truths with me: Tawanda, John, Partee, Billy, Greg, Nick, John, and Jenny. Thank you, all of you, for letting your stories help the world understand those days—what led to them and what we learned from them. Your stories forced us to comprehend the stories of those we didn’t profile individually in the book. The countless people who live in shadows or on society’s fault lines. Those in poverty or near poverty. Those who fight and struggle every day under the weight of a system that is unfair. I thank you all because you have been not only a driving force behind this book, but inspirations in my life’s work and purpose. You serve as an important reminder to push and not to be satisfied with, as Dr. King said, “the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”
To the mighty Chris Jackson and his entire One World team, thank you for believing in this story from the very start. You continue to share your genius with the world and bring the ideas, thoughts, and opinions of your authors to a new level. I am honored to have you as my publishers, editors, marketing team, and allies in the work.
Linda Loewenthal, my agent extraordinaire, this book has been a process! But we walked together from start to finish and I am sincerely grateful. My family, my true alpha and omega, thank you. You gave me space not only to write but to reflect, and you served as a consistent motivation, making clear to me why getting this story done, and done right, mattered. Dawn, I have no greater fighter in my corner and my appreciation for you is boundless. Thank you, for life, for all you are. Mia and James, my prince and princess, everything I do, all day and every day, is to make you happy and proud. I hope this book, and the impact I pray it inspires, does that. To my mom, Joy Moore, and sisters, Shani and Nikki, you are my squad! Thank you for always believing and being there for me no matter what. I promise to always do the same for you. And to the rest of my family, you are with me no matter where you are. You love me no matter what, and that means more than you know.
This book could have not been completed without my Robin Hood team having my back and my flanks. You are some of the most committed group of poverty fighters I know, and your commitment to the work and to real results is inspiring. A particular shout-out to Sam Tweedy, Brian Jones, and Jason Cone, who reminded me every day that this was about much more than five days— it’s about life’s work, and it touches on the lives we fight to impact every day. In the words of the Joni Mitchell song “A Case of You,” “I’m drawn to those ones that ain’t afraid. I remember that time you told me, you said love is touching souls. Surely you touched mine. ’Cause part of you pours out of me in these lines from time to time.” From the team to the board to the Leadership Council to our army of supporters, thank you, and hallelujah. To my friends Derek Kaufman and David Roberts: you viewed countless drafts and gave imperative feedback—your fingerprints are all over these pages. Thank you for pushing me to be bold in my words and recommendations. And Fagan Harris: your genius ran alongside me from day one. Thank you for taking this journey together with me. I could not have crossed the finish line without you.
My friends and anchors have consistently held me down, and I am deeply appreciative. My Baltimore family, who always made sure I remembered where I was from, but also made sure where I was from remembered me—we did this together, and all of you should be proud. My brothers Jeff Johnson, Zac McDaniels, Rev. Ron Owens, Rev. Jerome Stephens, Rev. Frank Reid, Rev. Donté Hickman, Rev. Todd Yeary, Rev. Harold Carter, John Willis, Luke Cooper, Lester Davis, D. Watkins, Matthew Jablow, Hassan Murphy, Chris Wilson, Ben Jealous, Guy Filippelli, Donald Davis, and Tom Geddes, and sisters Carla Hopkins, Tisha Edwards, Billie Malcolm, Ruth Ann Norton, Rachel Monroe, Sonja Santelises, Shanaysha Sauls, Catalina Byrd, and Dana DiCarlo—all of you at various times read drafts and provided insights, groundbreaking research, helpful criticism, and needed encouragement to go on and continue to tell this story. A special shout-out to my BridgeEdU team for enduring this even as we were building something to prevent tragedies like this from ever having to happen again, particularly to Kristen Mitsinikos for helping to put together the initial concept paper. And I would like to thank Baltimore organizations—like Baltimore Corps, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, the Baltimore Algebra Project, Art with a Heart, Thread, and Writers in Baltimore Schools—whose support of the city’s youth has made the city stronger and, importantly, let our youth lead.
My family extends far beyond Baltimore, and I can’t forget those outside the city by the bay who were invaluable in helping this story get done: Phillip Banks, Ray McGuire, Robert Reffkin, Tony and Robyn Coles, Chuck Phillips and the entire Black Economic Alliance family, Tony and Bea Welters, Darrell Friedman, Dia Simms, Ericka Pittman, Tonya Carr, Toni Bias, Justin Brandon, Tommy Ransom, Lois Peters, Howard and Pam Thomas, Ralph and Donna Thomas, Pandora Flythe, Earl and Rita Flythe, Michelle Drayton, Valerie Drayton, Declan and Marissa Smalley, and Derek and Kendra Ausby.
To Erica L. Green, my friend and the person I believed could really bring this process to a proper and God-honoring close, I am thankful you said yes, and thankful for the final result, which you beautifully helped bring out. And Emily Krieger, whose fact checking made sure that the stories told reflected the truth of the moment and of these journeys.
Lastly but not at all least, to the family of Freddie Gray. One can only imagine the pain you all felt those days, and the pain you continue to feel. We honor you and your appreciation that your son, brother, cousin, et cetera, should change the world in death the way the world did not let him in life.
I would like to thank my family, the Burns, the Girardis, and the Simons, whose unconditional love, support, and patience sustain me in this life and my career. Thank you to Matt, Everly and Ezra, and Miriam for providing the foundation that makes all other things possible. To my vast network of friends, thank you for being the wind beneath my wings. Thank you to the educators, families, and students in the Baltimore City Public School System for making me a journalist.
This book would not be possible without my newspaper family at The Baltimore Sun, namely the Pulitzer-recognized team whose unparalleled coverage of Freddie Gray’s death and its aftermath exemplified the bedrock principles of journalism and professionalism, and the commitment that newspapers have to their communities. Thank you to the Sun’s leaders and editors, Trif Alatzas, Sam Davis, Sean Welsh, Kalani Gordon, Laura Smitherman, Dave Rosenthal, Jen Badie, and Richard Martin, who steered the team through an extraordinary story with courage and grace. And thank you to Mary Corey for your legacy and guidance.
One of the true honors of my life was reporting on the front lines of Baltimore history alongside some of the most talented and tireless journalists in the business, many of whom I am also lucky to call friends. Among them: Liz Bowie, Yvonne Wenger, Luke Broadwater, Scott Dance, Justin Fenton, Justin George, Kevin Rector, Julie Scharper, Andy Green, Erin Cox, Colin Campbell, Ian Duncan, Doug Donovan, Jean Marbella, Dan Rodricks, and the entire photo staff, including Jeff Bill, Jerry Jackson, Lloyd Fox, Kim Hairston, Karl Ferron, Christopher Assaf, and Amy Davis.
To the reporters and editors who continue to make the Sun one of the most important papers in the country—Talia Richman, Tim Prudente, Diana Sugg, Tricia Bishop, Andrea McDaniels, Alison Knezevich, Jessica Anderson, David Zurawik, Peter Jensen—thank you for shining a “Light for All,” especially in the city’s darkest days.
To the wider Baltimore press corps who provided dogged coverage of the uprising—not just the event itself but what preceded it and its aftermath—thank you for working alongside us not just as competitors, but as a team of rivals committed to telling one of the most important stories of our time. This includes the city’s dedicated broadcast journalists; the writers and photographers formerly of Baltimore City Paper, including Baynard Woods, Lisa Snowden-McCray, J. M. Giordano, and Brandon Soderberg; and Jaisal Noor of the Real News Network. And thank you to the journalists who continue to cover the city with limited resources but limitless heart, like the writers at Baltimore Beat and Baltimore Brew.
Thank you to journalists at national outlets like Alec MacGillis for continuing to keep Baltimore in the national consciousness, as a city emblematic of intractable challenges but worth believing in.
The work of all of these journalists served as invaluable research and context for this project. They ran toward the fires, dodged bricks, marched with protesters, challenged authority and narratives, covered Freddie’s family with compassion, elevated the voices of marginalized communities, chronicled critical turning points in the city’s history, and exposed the systems and policies that provided the necessary context to understand why the city rose up.
I would also like to acknowledge a group of strong black women whose friendship, leadership, and/or mentorship at different points in my career helped me to find my own voice. Thank you, La Jerne Cornish, Alicia Wilson, Edie House Foster, Nikkia Rowe, Tammy Turner, Tahirah Burley, Cpl. Betty Covington, Tammatha Woodhouse, Lorna Hanley, Khalilah Harris, Tanika Davis, Kelly Brewington, Maryann James-Daley, Monique Jones, and Nikole Hannah-Jones for reminding me to never dim my light.
To my support system at The New York Times, namely Elisabeth Bumiller, Jonathan Weisman, Rebecca Corbett, Matt Purdy, Scott Shane, Katie Benner, Julie Davis, Mikayla Bouchard, Emily Cochrane, Lauretta Charlton, Jaime Swanson, Margaret Ho, Coral Davenport, Katie Rogers, and Eliza Shapiro, and the many, many others who have lent an ear, advice, and kind words: thank you for encouraging me to stay true to who I am, and for believing in me more than I believe in myself.
And finally, thank you to the children of Baltimore City for all that you are and will become.