ABOUT ME:
I am a PhD student in History. I first moved to Baltimore in January 2010 to go to school at UMBC, and very quickly fell in love with the city. I am a Public Historian, which means that I create history-based scholarship for the general public, not just academics.
Much of my research centers around community building and public spaces. I am interested in investigating how access (or lack thereof) to public space allows groups to form their own cohesive identity.
ABOUT OCCUPY BALTIMORE:
Occupy Baltimore is an organization of individuals working for broad social, political, and economic change. One major component of the movement so far has been the physical occupation of McKeldin Square, a public park in downtown Baltimore. The square has served as a home for many of the participants, who have slept in tents on the site. For others, the square is a meeting space for sharing ideas, holding complex theoretical conversations, and simply interacting with people whom they might not otherwise meet.
From the website OccupyBmore.org -
Statement of Purpose, 10/22/2011:Through the transformation of this public space Occupy Baltimore is expressing solidarity with other Occupy Movements throughout the nation and the world who are forcing attention to the issues of political and economic injustice.
Our purpose is to open for all people a lasting, transparent, and honest Democracy organized in a consensus model. Our goals will be defined by that consensus of our General Assembly. We offer to the people what corporate privilege and political complacency in out nation has taken from them.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT:
I first became active with Occupy Baltimore in October 2011. While spending time at the occupation site McKeldin Park, in downtown Baltimore, I was struck by how many connections were being made among seemingly disparate groups. This sparked an interest in getting first-hand opinions on what community is, how community is formed, and how the “Occupiers” felt about their own community at McKeldin Square.
I first became active with Occupy Baltimore in October 2011. While spending time at the occupation site McKeldin Park, in downtown Baltimore, I was struck by how many connections were being made among seemingly disparate groups. This sparked an interest in getting first-hand opinions on what community is, how community is formed, and how the “Occupiers” felt about their own community at McKeldin Square.
I plan to use this blog as a vehicle for sharing some of the interviews and information gathered while talking to those at Occupy Baltimore. This is only one part of a larger project in which I will compare first-hand experience at Occupy Baltimore with the theoretical scholarship on community building and public spaces.
The world needed another hippie blog.
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