How Baltimore called a ceasefire
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0:01 - 0:03There is a pastor in Baltimore.
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0:03 - 0:05His name is Michael Phillips,
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0:05 - 0:07he is the pastor of Kingdom Life Church,
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0:07 - 0:12and he often talks about how problems
show up in our lives so arrogantly, -
0:12 - 0:16with so much confidence, as if there is
just nothing we can do about them. -
0:16 - 0:19And the murder rate in Baltimore
had been doing that. -
0:19 - 0:23Year after year, it just
kept showing up as this big thing -
0:23 - 0:26that there was nothing any of us
could do anything about. -
0:26 - 0:28But the thing about Baltimore
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0:28 - 0:31is that it has never been the one
to just be defeated. -
0:32 - 0:35So the story about the Baltimore Ceasefire
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0:35 - 0:38is that Baltimore looked
the murder rate in the eye -
0:38 - 0:42and said, "What you're not going to do
is snatch our greatness." -
0:43 - 0:47So two years ago,
I'm at a 300 Man March meeting. -
0:47 - 0:49At the time, I was a leader
in that movement. -
0:49 - 0:50And this guy named Ogun --
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0:50 - 0:53he's like a godfather
of hip-hop in Baltimore -- -
0:53 - 0:54he came over to me and he said,
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0:54 - 0:58"Yo, I have this idea about
calling a ceasefire in Baltimore, -
0:58 - 1:01and I feel like you are somebody
I should talk to about that." -
1:01 - 1:04And I was like, "I'm absolutely
somebody you should talk to about that, -
1:04 - 1:06because that's something we should do."
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1:06 - 1:08And so we played phone tag
and meeting tag, -
1:08 - 1:13and two years went by and we never
really sat down and talked about it. -
1:13 - 1:15So now we're in May of 2017.
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1:15 - 1:19My son Paul, he's 19 years old,
he's driving me home from work one day, -
1:19 - 1:22and he says, "Ma, did you know
that the murder rate in Baltimore -
1:22 - 1:24is higher than it's ever been?"
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1:24 - 1:27And I said, "What you mean
it's higher than it's ever been? -
1:27 - 1:28How is that possible?
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1:28 - 1:32Like, I mean, what about people who say
they have connections to the streets? -
1:32 - 1:36Why won't they use those connections
and call a cease-fire or something?" -
1:36 - 1:37And on and on I went
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1:37 - 1:41from my own feelings of helplessness
about what other people weren't doing. -
1:41 - 1:43The next morning I woke up
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1:43 - 1:45and I realized that what I was
really angry about -
1:45 - 1:48wasn't about what other people
weren't doing, -
1:48 - 1:51it was that I had heard
this message years ago, -
1:51 - 1:52and I hadn't moved on it.
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1:52 - 1:55So it was about what I
was supposed to be doing. -
1:55 - 1:57So I got up and I'm going,
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1:57 - 1:59"OK, if we could
just have three days -
1:59 - 2:02where everybody in the city
was committing, -
2:02 - 2:05nobody is going to kill anybody,
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2:05 - 2:07and we're going to celebrate life instead,
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2:07 - 2:09when can we do that?"
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2:09 - 2:10So it's May, I look at my calendar,
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2:10 - 2:14all right, I've got some free time
the first weekend in August, -
2:14 - 2:18we'll do it August 4th
through August 6th, right? -
2:18 - 2:21So I'm all excited,
I start driving to work, -
2:21 - 2:23and the more I drive, the scareder I get.
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2:25 - 2:28And so I start going, "Never mind ...
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2:28 - 2:29(Laughter)
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2:29 - 2:30I won't say this thing out loud.
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2:30 - 2:33Nobody will ever know
I was thinking it if I don't say it." -
2:33 - 2:35But it wouldn't let me go,
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2:35 - 2:39because God loves to show up as us,
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2:39 - 2:41and because I look broken
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2:41 - 2:43and I'm always called
to stand in my wholeness, -
2:43 - 2:46there was a call on my life
to say this thing out loud. -
2:46 - 2:48And because my city looks broken
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2:48 - 2:51and is always yearning
to show up in its wholeness, -
2:51 - 2:55there were hearts that morning
calling all through my chest -
2:55 - 2:59that people around this city
wanted to do something great together. -
2:59 - 3:02And people who had already
been killed in my city -
3:02 - 3:04were calling to me
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3:04 - 3:07up through my gut and my chest,
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3:07 - 3:12as a knot in my throat, "Yo, E,
you cannot just let us be dead in vain -
3:12 - 3:14when you know how to say
this thing out loud." -
3:14 - 3:17And I responded to them with my fear.
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3:17 - 3:20"But somebody might get killed
anyway that weekend." -
3:20 - 3:22And that was the moment
where I had to accept -
3:22 - 3:25that maybe while we're out
spreading this message -- -
3:25 - 3:28"Hey, nobody's going to kill anybody.
We're going to celebrate life!" -- -
3:28 - 3:31maybe somebody will be plotting
to take a life right then and there, -
3:31 - 3:36but now they would have
a rumbling in their spirit. -
3:36 - 3:38And so I knew it was time for my city
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3:38 - 3:42to have a collective
rumbling in our spirit. -
3:42 - 3:44So I got on the phone, got around to Ogun,
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3:45 - 3:47and I said, "Yo, you said
you wanted to do a cease-fire? -
3:47 - 3:48What is it? I'm ready."
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3:48 - 3:53So he said, "You know, when I hear about
the Israelis and Palestinians at war, -
3:53 - 3:55I'm like, that's too bad,
they should stop that, -
3:55 - 3:57but when I hear the word 'cease-fire,'
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3:57 - 4:00that makes me pause and stop
and really research what's going on." -
4:00 - 4:03And he wanted Baltimore
to get that same kind of attention -
4:03 - 4:04from the outside,
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4:04 - 4:08but introspection from the inside
about what was going on with us. -
4:08 - 4:11And we talked about how it couldn't
belong to one person. -
4:11 - 4:15Not one person or one organization
should call a cease-fire. -
4:15 - 4:18The whole city had to own it
and do it together. -
4:18 - 4:20So we had our first meeting in May.
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4:20 - 4:23About 12 or 15 people show up,
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4:23 - 4:26and this is where it gets named
the Baltimore Ceasefire, -
4:26 - 4:29because you know what that means
when you hear the word "cease-fire." -
4:29 - 4:31Just don't kill nobody.
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4:31 - 4:34And this is where the Baltimore
Peace Challenge was born. -
4:34 - 4:37Because it's not just about
not being violent. -
4:37 - 4:40It is about being purposefully peaceful.
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4:40 - 4:42What is going on in your thoughts?
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4:42 - 4:45What kind of petty things
are you not saying out of your mouth? -
4:45 - 4:49How are you responding
in your behaviors to conflict? -
4:49 - 4:51I grabbed up five people who I trusted,
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4:51 - 4:54and the six of us became
the organizing squad. -
4:54 - 4:56So let's give them props real quick.
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4:56 - 4:59On the count of three,
I want you to yell "squad." -
4:59 - 5:01One, two, three: squad! Audience: Squad!
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5:01 - 5:04And it's Shellers's birthday.
Happy birthday, Shellers. -
5:04 - 5:05Audience: Happy birthday!
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5:05 - 5:07And so we put out a press release,
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5:07 - 5:10and the media told us,
this is not really a story yet, -
5:10 - 5:14we will get with you on August 7th
to see how the cease-fire went. -
5:14 - 5:16So we went, "Oh, word?
Oh, all right then." -
5:16 - 5:17And Baltimore got to work,
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5:18 - 5:21and not only did people send money
to the PayPal account -
5:21 - 5:23so we could buy flyers and posters,
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5:23 - 5:26people came and got the flyers and posters
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5:26 - 5:28and they put them all around the city,
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5:28 - 5:30and people were having
conversations with each other. -
5:30 - 5:34What kind of resources do you need?
What are you going through? -
5:34 - 5:35What has happened to you?
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5:35 - 5:39Because we understand the root causes
of violence in this country. -
5:39 - 5:42People who said it wouldn't work
still ended their sentence -
5:42 - 5:46with "but please keep trying.
Somebody needs to do something anyway." -
5:46 - 5:48Teenagers who would tell us
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5:48 - 5:51about the stuff they were doing
in the streets all day asked, -
5:51 - 5:54"But can I have a poster
to put it on my wall at night -
5:54 - 5:56so I can see it on my way to bed?"
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5:56 - 5:58Gangsters were calling, saying,
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5:58 - 6:01"I can tell you where
violence is not going to come from, -
6:01 - 6:03because we're committing
to the Peace Challenge." -
6:03 - 6:04And they kept their word.
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6:04 - 6:06When people said, "It's not going to work,
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6:06 - 6:09because somebody's going to kill
over West or over East," -
6:09 - 6:13we said, "That doesn't matter.
It's about self-determination, yo. -
6:13 - 6:16You telling me you can't keep
this three- or six-block radius safe?" -
6:16 - 6:18And they would say, "Don't get it twisted.
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6:18 - 6:22It's going to stay safe around here."
And they kept their promise. -
6:22 - 6:29(Applause)
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6:29 - 6:30Four songs --
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6:31 - 6:33and I know it looks like
I'm holding up five fingers, -
6:33 - 6:35but I have four fingers,
so this is four for me -- -
6:36 - 6:38four songs got made
about the Baltimore Ceasefire, -
6:38 - 6:41and the one that most exemplifies it,
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6:41 - 6:44where a bunch of artists
came together and made a song, -
6:44 - 6:48that one is currently nominated
for a Grammy out here. Right? -
6:48 - 6:51And so now what was happening
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6:51 - 6:54was from the most beautiful
corners of crack houses -
6:54 - 6:57to the grimiest corners
of politicians' offices, -
6:57 - 6:58everybody --
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6:58 - 7:00(Laughter)
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7:00 - 7:04was talking about this thing
Baltimore was doing together. Right? -
7:05 - 7:06And then, the weekend came:
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7:07 - 7:11events all over the city,
people yelling "Happy Ceasefire Day!" -
7:11 - 7:14Over 200 people got their records
expunged and got jobs, -
7:14 - 7:17and people went
into drug recovery programs -
7:17 - 7:20because of what was happening
in our city that weekend. -
7:20 - 7:23People were going, "But the air
feels different in Baltimore. -
7:23 - 7:25Nobody's mother
got that phone call last night. -
7:25 - 7:26I didn't hear any gunshots."
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7:27 - 7:30And on Saturday, Trey went to go get a job
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7:30 - 7:31and was excited about it.
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7:31 - 7:33At 24 hours of no killing,
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7:33 - 7:38we were singing Kendrick Lamar.
"We gon' be alright. We gon' be alright." -
7:38 - 7:41And then at 4:59 on Saturday,
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7:41 - 7:43we get a message that somebody was killed.
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7:43 - 7:46We didn't know his name,
but it turned out to be Trey. -
7:49 - 7:51So we rushed over to Sargeant Street,
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7:52 - 7:54and we held hands in a circle
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7:54 - 7:56and we looked at the pavement,
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7:56 - 8:00and we said, "This is sacred ground
because we make it so, -
8:00 - 8:04because everywhere in our city
where people lose their lives to violence -
8:04 - 8:06needs to be sacred ground."
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8:06 - 8:10And it wasn't just about
upholding Trey and his transition -
8:10 - 8:13and sending love to his family.
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8:13 - 8:18It was about us pausing to really
think about what must it feel like -
8:18 - 8:2120 minutes after you kill somebody?
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8:21 - 8:23Can't we pour love into that?
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8:23 - 8:27Because until we do,
we will not heal this epidemic. -
8:27 - 8:30Later on in the day, we get another call.
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8:31 - 8:33Dante is murdered.
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8:33 - 8:35So by the end of this day, we were shook.
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8:36 - 8:38In real life, we were shook,
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8:38 - 8:40because we had opened up
our hearts together -
8:40 - 8:42and changed the atmosphere of this city,
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8:42 - 8:45and now our hearts were broken together.
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8:45 - 8:48And we had to be honest
about the fact that last weekend, -
8:48 - 8:51when we lost six people to violence,
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8:51 - 8:54it didn't feel the way it felt
this weekend when we lost these two, -
8:54 - 8:57because now we were paying attention.
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8:57 - 9:00Now we were all hoping together
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9:00 - 9:02that nobody got killed.
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9:02 - 9:05And so we had to make a vow with ourselves
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9:05 - 9:10not to be numb anymore
when we lose people in our city. -
9:10 - 9:16These two lives were going to remind us
to vibrate higher and to move forward. -
9:16 - 9:20So as we move forward
into Baltimore Ceasefire 365, -
9:20 - 9:23because there's work that needs
to be done all year, -
9:23 - 9:25and there's another cease-fire
happening next weekend, -
9:25 - 9:28November 3rd through 5th.
Mark your calendar. -
9:28 - 9:29(Applause)
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9:29 - 9:31Right? And we expect the same thing.
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9:31 - 9:34It was news media
from all around the world, -
9:34 - 9:35Australia and Norway and China.
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9:35 - 9:38Everybody wanted to come
get this work from Baltimore, -
9:38 - 9:40and y'all could come get it. Right?
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9:40 - 9:43So as we push forward,
we don't need to keep asking now -
9:43 - 9:44"What can we do?"
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9:45 - 9:48We have seen the power
of collective consciousness. -
9:48 - 9:51Y'all were the ones
who misunderstood Baltimore. -
9:51 - 9:54Y'all thought Baltimore
was just "The Wire." -
9:54 - 9:56When we lost Freddie Gray,
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9:56 - 9:58y'all saw the Baltimore uprising,
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9:58 - 10:02and people around this world
mischaracterized it and misunderstood it. -
10:02 - 10:08What you failed to realize
is Baltimore is the power to rise up, -
10:08 - 10:10and that is what we continue to do.
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10:10 - 10:11(Applause)
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10:11 - 10:14And so as we move forward,
we see you, America, -
10:14 - 10:19with your systems of violent oppression
trying to beat us into the ground, -
10:19 - 10:21and still, we rise.
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10:21 - 10:26We rise and stand with cities
all over this country just like us -
10:26 - 10:28who are handed,
through no fault of their own, -
10:28 - 10:31criminal conditions in which to live,
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10:31 - 10:35and then they get labeled savages
for how they live. -
10:35 - 10:37We stand with them.
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10:37 - 10:41We remind them we are an example
of what you can do when you say, -
10:41 - 10:44"No, I don't have to accept
these conditions -
10:44 - 10:46that you are trying to hand me.
-
10:46 - 10:50I get to decide what the greatest
vision of myself looks like. -
10:51 - 10:54And so the next time
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10:54 - 10:57you are faced with a dilemma,
with a problem, -
10:57 - 11:01you can say, "Let me be like Baltimore,
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11:01 - 11:03let me look it in the face,
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11:03 - 11:05let me tell it."
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11:05 - 11:08But what you're not going to do
is snatch my greatness. -
11:08 - 11:10Please believe it.
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11:10 - 11:11Thank you.
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11:11 - 11:14(Applause)
- Title:
- How Baltimore called a ceasefire
- Speaker:
- Erricka Bridgeford
- Description:
-
In one day, in one city, in one neighborhood -- what if everyone put their guns down? Erricka Bridgeford is a peacemaker who wants to stop the murders and violence in her hometown of Baltimore. So she helped organize the Baltimore Ceasefire, a grassroots campaign to keep the peace. In a passionate, personal talk, Bridgeford tells the story of the Ceasefire movement and their bigger vision for zero murders in Baltimore.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:27
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How Baltimore called a ceasefire |