The city of Baltimore is a perfect representation of the world’s ingenuity and it’s slow pace towards change. Baltimore is a city that reflects our nation’s triumphs and its trauma. We are the world's mirror and we dare you to look away.

A lot of people tease me when it comes to my love for Baltimore. They laugh, “Sorry, Dionne! We can’t save the city with you today.”😏

I get it. I’ve always been a geek about #MyBmore. I’m the biggest fan of the talent in my city. There is absolutely nothing we can’t do. Our resilience is our superpower and defying the odds is our thing.

BLACK AND WHITE 

James Baldwin once told a room full of young listeners, “I’ve never been interested in politics until I discovered that politics was very interested in me.”

We must address the issues impacting Baltimore through a racial equity lens. Those who are most impacted by the deepening inequality across our communities are the black and brown people living in those communities.  

And, it is not without justification that many within our under-resourced neighborhoods are cautious of crossing the digital gap. 

No, decades of systemic damage cannot be resolved with a hackathon. But, what if we approached our deeply rooted challenges with a completely new way of thinking? People are “sick and tired of being sick and tired”. We have to push back on old assumptions, challenge bias and cultivate empathy. Okay, we may not be able to save the world, but addressing the challenges that WE CAN FIX, is progress. 

HACK BALTIMORE 

Civic Hackers are people who recognize the challenges in their community and they put on their cape to do something...anything...that makes Baltimore a little better for everyone.

There are major cities across the world that are reimagining community policing and they are restoring the public’s trust and fostering a spirit of collaboration, like Baltimore’s own, Trevor Brooks. He founded GunBail, a patent-pending technology that incentivizes non-violent offenders to willingly turn in illegal guns in exchange for release. Why can’t Baltimore? 

In Sandtown-Winchester, Harlem Park, Upton, and Druid Heights, the life expectancy is 10 yrs. less than Baltimore’s least blighted neighborhoods. Hell, I was born and raised in Sandtown-Winchester and judging by the data, me and a lot of my friends are blessed to be here.

HACK Baltimore is asking how do we support Baltimore’s social innovators and civic hackers in their fight against blight? 

Did you know that through stem education, B-360 is a non-profit in Baltimore that utilizes dirt bike culture to end the cycle of poverty, disrupt the prison pipeline, and build bridges in communities? And, there are people using innovation to create vertical urban farms. Yes, I didn’t know exactly what a “vertical farm” was.

CIVIC HACKERS 

No one understands Baltimore’s challenges better than the advocates who put on their cape every day to fight for her.    

Baltimore’s community is the most powerful asset that we have in tackling Baltimore's challenges. There is no city with communities more determined than ours to develop solutions that will not only benefit us, but our generations to come.

Maybe that sounds dramatic, but I’mma put it like this, “Look around. We’re all we got. But, we’re all we need!” #HB2020 #CivicHackersUnite #SocialInnovation #CivicTechFest #Housing #Transporation #HealthAndWellness #Education #PublicSafety #WorkforceDevelopment #MyBmore #BeTheSolution

For the people who say it can’t be done, they’re usually interrupted by a civic hacker who’s doing it.