TGR: Adam Meister's Continual Disrespect of Elders, Black Community is Shameful
By Doni M. Glover, www.bmorenews.com
(BALTIMORE - August 28, 2012) -
Adam Meister, I received a copy of a troubling item with your name on it. It reads as follows:
Young people of Baltimore complain about Paul Ryan on Facebook while old people vote for Pete Welch and Warren Branch
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Posted on Auoust 14. 20.12
If you live in Baltimore and you have a Facebook account you are probably familiar with a couple of local phenomena. On Facebook when there is a major national political debate that the mainstream media mindlessly covers every young person between 18 and 35 seems to want to share a juicy tidbit about the story with the Facebook world' This weekend Mitt Romney introduced Paul Ryan as his running mate. within minutes the anti-Ryan posts started to flow from young people all over Baltimore city. They have yet to stop three days later. Never mind the fact that Romney/Ryan could care less about Maryland's electoral votes or that posting the same thing over and over again about a vice Presidential candidate probably is not going to change anyone’s mind in Maryland (a state that will go for Obama no matter what). The ironic thing about these posts is that these young trendy Baltimore citizens are mostly still registered to vote in the suburbs where they grew up and while they hope to make a national political statement they are incapable of simply voting in the jurisdiction where they live.
While the young people are posting on Facebook the citizens of Baltimore's subsidized highrise apartments are sitting in their wheelchairs out in front of their buildings watching the drug dealers and cars fly by. They are sitting their expressionless just waiting for death to take them away (if you do not believe me I invite you to take a trip to Lakeview Towers in Reservoir Hill to observe). You must understand that in between waiting for death, drinking, smoking, and eating they do find time to vote in Baltimore's local elections. The last local election was in 2011 and the turnout was embarrassingly low. They vote for the candidate who gives them “walk around money” to "work" on election day, for the candidate with the familiar last name, or for the candidate who gives them the free T-shirt or hat! You gotta love those T-shirts! Those freaking T-shirts control our destinies! While the young people have conniption fits about Paul Ryan on Facebook the people about to die vote for Pete Welch, Warren Branch, Rikki Spector and all the other incumbents with familiar sounding names that have made our city so... ughhh... great!
Look at two of the local big stories that were in the news while the hipsters of Baltimore were posting on Faceboook about scaaaaaaaaaaaaarrnrrrrrrrry) Paul Ryan:
Walking on North Avenue from one end to the other should not be a something that most people think should be on the TV show Fear Factor (I have no idea if that show even exists anymore, kind of like how most young people in Baltimore could not tell you the name of the City Councilperson who represents the area they live in). If young people actually got off their butts, registered to vote in Baltimore, and VOTED IN BALTIMORE CITY then this city would drastically improve in many ways. There would be real accountability if young people paid attention instead of yelling and screaming about some Republican boogieman who has absolutely zero power in 100% Democrat controlled Baltimore City.
Below are pieces of my Facebook rant that inspired this post. Remember that I am not just a ranter/Facebook poster, but I am also a Baltimore city super voter, a guy who ran for city council, a guy who got sued for $21million by a sitting city councilwoman because I exposed her residency discrepancy, a guy who stood outside for 13 hours on election day 2011 helping a non-incumbent defeat a horrible incumbent with a popular last name, a guy who actually steps foot in (and thus sees with his own eyes) the parts of Baltimore that most of you would never dare drive through, and I am a proud resident of Linden Avenue. Young people have the energy and the strength, they can either use it or lose it. If you live in Baltimore city please register to vote in Baltimore city and vote in Baltimore City. It is not hard to do and it will make a huge difference.
My Facebook posts:
"Imagine if all the young people in Baltimore who are posting crap about PauI Ryan actually cared/knew about city politics and registered to vote in Baltimore City...
In reply to a person posting that his mind was blown when he found out that the Parks and Rec department had not been audited in 30 years:
"It did not blow my mind. Chris Delaporte has been talking to me about this since 2007! Nothing should blow your mind in Baltimore- a city of over 6oo,ooo people where 74,460 people voted in the 2011 primary election (the Dem primary only matters in this heavily Democratic city)"
"If young people with brains voted in Baltimore (and first most of them would actually have to register here instead of just live here and fear high car insurance rates) then we could actually elect decent leaders and have some sort of accountability. As it stands now since the trendies would rather complain about _______ Vice President who won't even be campaigning here since Obama won the 2012 election in Maryland in 2008 (Yes I I said he won the upcoming election in 2008 because he has ZERO SHOT of losing Maryland) we have do-nothing
wasteful leaders who dig this city further and further into a hole and get rewarded with election victory after election victory . Rikki Spector was first elected in 1977 and Mary Pat Clarke was first elected to city council in 1975. Complaining about Republicans on Facebook is not going to change our 100% one party Democrat
controlled city . Young people have the energy and power to embarrass and rock the local staus quo which is controlled by a bunch of morons. I challenge any of you to attend a city council meeting and listen to Jack Young and many other of his colleagues speak (if they actually show up for the meeting) and tell me otherwise. Jack, Rikki, and Mary Pat LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to complain about Paul Ryan and Mitt and divert attention from what is going on in Baltimore so keep up the good work and be a good little cog in the status quo machine. You see those old ladies sitting in front of the subsidized senior housing rotting away just waiting for death? Well they control Baltimore's destiny because they actually vote while young people in Baltimore are still registered to vote at mommy's house in the suburbs."
"Registering to vote and actually voting do not take much time though. If this actually happened it alone would make a big difference and scare the living crap out of many incumbents. Right now incumbents fear losing the votes of old people.
I have heard people running for city council talk about prescription drugs at LOCAL candidate forums. Well City Councilmen have ZERO control over prescription drug related issues, they use it as a talking point to cozy up to the all important almost ready to die voter who has more say in Baltimore than the 29 year old guy in Canton paying $7000 in yearly property taxes who is still registered to vote in Towson."
While I can appreciate your encouraging Baltimore city residents to vote, you speak like you have been living on Linden Avenue all of your life. The fact is, such a thing is not appreciated coming from an outsider who has absolutely very little clue about the real Baltimore.
Just because you’ve lived on Linden Avenue a few years does not earn you the right to talk about my community as if you are Jesus the Christ.
Yep, I think it’s about time – Mr. Meister. I’ve sat and watched as you disrespected an elder in our community, firstly. You disrespected, more importantly, yourself. Be careful. Karma’s a real one. Can you imagine some young whippersnapper coming up to you when you’re well into your years – in a threatening manner, Mr. Meister? Not a pretty thought, is it – a young man knocking on your door with larceny in their heart? Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how it seems. That was inappropriate, and warrants a serious apology. Your actions are indeed frowned upon.
And the thing is, you certainly have your right to your opinion, and I dare not challenge the basic premise of your disdain. However, politically speaking – you couldn’t carry Mr. Frank M. Conaway’s jock strap. Truth be told, before you were ever born – this man was demonstrating before the black community’s eyes that we can, in fact, get a job, start a business, raise a family, and get the entire family engaged in the political process. And, I don’t know where you come from, but around here – it’s pretty amazing. More than that, it is respected. Folks know one thing: If you don’t like it, then vote him out.
I do not know anything about you, Mr. Meister, except that you moved into Reservoir Hill and made a lot of clamor about it. I wasn’t sure if it was fear or a publicity stunt. I say that because over here in Sandtown, we have white neighbors, too. And they don’t act like you. Instead of an “I know what’s best for you” mentality, they came with love in their hearts.
Their names, by the way, are the Tibbels. Mr. Tibbels passed a couple of years back. His style was much more effective, though, I must say. And so is his wife, Susan. She operates – with her team, of course – the school: New Song.
In their two decades plus of living in Sandtown, I never recall them carrying it like you, Mr. Meister. And truth be told, I don’t care what color you are – you don’t have the right to disrespect people who have forgotten more about the struggle than you have yet to learn.
As for the people opposite Druid Hill Park Reservoir – I cannot begin to say how disappointed I am of you that you don’t even realize your own ignorance. Sad. Pathetic. Really out of touch with the real Baltimore: that’s what I’m getting from you. Not leadership. Not somebody I would vote for. Not even a nice human being. Please leave our elders alone. Whatever your idea is of fitting in, this isn’t working. You are abusive to my community and the folks don’t appreciate it. Go back to your drawing board.
You see, Mr. Meister – most of us are aware of the problems and the solutions. Many of us even know the history of how Baltimore got progressively worse over the past decade. What I’m trying to say is that the last thing Baltimore needs is a know-it-all who is possibly a sore loser politically and who beats up on our elders. Not a good look, Mr. Meister. You’re blaming much of this on the victims, not the perpetrators of the structurally racist/classist hierarchy that allowed the urban decay to happen in the first place. Not a good look at all, Mr. Meister – especially when you know nothing of the riots and why they occurred and what the people felt and why they responded the way that they did. I was a little boy, but any blind man could see that black people were sick and tired of being sick and tired.
But, you don’t know about the struggle. Not like we do. You don’t know the hundreds of thousands of black mothers who have gone to City Jail to visit their sons nor their stories. You just flew in town and figured you’d get a newspaper and then you know it all.
In 18 years of journalism, I have learned to love the people – to work with the people – to learn the people – to listen to the people. Maybe you should, too. If you did, you would know not to disrespect any elder of any color. As for the young black people you allude to, I'd personally be very careful talking about their grandparents.
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