Project T.O.O.U.R., Inc.

To Whom It May Concern:

It is of paramount importance that the African American communities in South Baltimore stick together. Too long we have been misguided by agendas that do not serve the masses well. Black folk’s sense of compassion is an innate particle of our souls. It stems from times of slavery. 

Recently, we have allowed various entities to divide us. This has the potential to create chaos and confusion.  It is now time to rejoin each other in pursuit of our rights; in pursuit of mitigating potentially adverse events that affect our communities; in pursuit of securing a safe place to live; in pursuit of providing a good future for the generations that will follow; in pursuit of securing our equity and investments in our communities.      

The more we stand divided, that more we’ll be forced to surrender to the lash of the whip, created by City Government entities, Developers, and other parties. The facts are--- our communities will undergo some form of transformation and our concerns are being ignored, overlooked or not properly addressed. The only realistic way to tackle this problem is with a united front. Linda Towe of Project TOOUR took the initiative to create a coalition of community leaders and not many people responded to this call.  This is both a shame and an embarrassment for the black race and our ancestors, who have fought so hard for things we now have.

According to Wikipedia, the phenomenon of  “divide and conquer” is very real. It reads, “In politics and sociology, divide and rule (derived from Latin divide et impera) (also known as divide and conquer) is a combination of political, military and economic strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy. In reality, it often refers to a strategy where small power groups are prevented from linking up and becoming more powerful, since it is difficult to break up existing power structures.”

If we ignore this call, are we carrying on the legacy of those valiant people who fought so much for equal rights, opportunities and a chance to be heard? Or are we succumbing to the lash of the brutal whip?

We must listen to our conscience. We must leave past quarrels behind. We must come to the table unselfishly. We must remain focused on the things that will benefit us all. We must allow ourselves to absorb valuable information. We must set aside personal agendas. We must agree to disagree (without harboring ill feelings). We must come with open ears, open hearts and open minds. We must never give up. WE MUST UNITE…

I’ll bet all of you heard, atleast once, a community activist with years of experience say “strength is with numbers”. Do we still ignore???

Regards,

James Alston