A nonprofit organization's approach to cognize community responses to historic and perpetuated structural racism in Baltimore city

Abstract

The purpose of this manuscript is to illustrate how a local nonprofit organization in Baltimore City attempted to cognize, depict, and frame the perspectives of community stakeholders concerned about structural racism in the city. Six months after the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old unarmed black man who died in a hospital from spinal cord injuries sustained while in police custody in West Baltimore, the authors were invited to participate in a community conversation aimed at identifying solutions to structural racism. In partnership with the host community agency, which is located in West Baltimore, the authors developed a survey that was used to depict the conversation and analyzed the survey results. Within this manuscript, key findings and a narrative are provided to give readers an understanding of the context and tone of the conversation. This manuscript further provides an approach by nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and/or policymakers to engage in meaningful discourse with economically marginalized communities around issues of structural oppression and inequality. Copyright 2018 Midwest Public Affairs Conference. All rights reserved.