'Swimming in Baltimore: How Poverty Works,' March 27
March 16, 2017
Contact: Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739

A video essay, Swimming in Baltimore: How Poverty Works, and discussion featuring several local experts, including the makers of the video from the Real News Network's Baltimore bureau, will be presented at the University of Baltimore on Monday, March 27 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall in the H. Mebane Turner Learning Commons, 1415 Maryland Ave. The screening of the video and follow-up discussion are free and open to the public.
Swimming in Baltimore explores poverty beyond an individual's circumstances, but as an idea that permates the psyche of the community.
"What is poverty, and how does it work? Particularly in Baltimore, where it persists and informs how we live and die," writes Taya Graham, Real News reporter, in an introduction to the video. "Perhaps it can best be understood through a tale about fish. Two young fish were swimming, when an older fish swam by who said, 'Good morning, how's the water?' The younger fish continued on, until one asked, 'What is water?' The point of the story is simple and yet complex: that which surrounds and sustains us can also be invisible."
The film features an interview with Cornel West, professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary and professor emeritus at Princeton University.
"Poverty in Baltimore, poverty in the United States, poverty in the world, the global capitalist economy, is a catastrophe visited on poor people," West says. "And there's such a fear, there's a real trembling in the boots of elites at the top, when poor people straighten their backs up, organize, mobilize, and bring significant power and pressure to bear."
Guest speakers at the March 27 event include Jayne Miller, investigative reporter for WBAL-TV, Del. Jill Carter, head of the Baltimore Office of Civil Rights, Jeff Singer, former executive director of Healthcare for the Homeless, and journalists Graham and Stephen Janis.
Learn more about Swimming in Baltimore: How Poverty Works.