Some of the city and state officials and other participants at a rally yesterday to oppose a $100 million youth jail for Baltimore.
Photo by: Bill Hughes, Facebook
Here are scenes from yesterday’s rally in Baltimore to oppose Gov. Martin O’Malley’s plan to build a more than $70 million youth jail in Baltimore, including a video excerpt of remarks by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson.
“Build houses, not jails! Hope, not despair!” Jackson said, leading the crowd at the War Memorial Building in a chant at the “Reallocate to Recreate” rally.
Local ministers and The Safe and Sound Campaign, who organized the rally have, along with other activists, been pressing Maryland officials to drop plans to build the 120-bed facility and instead invest in programs to support youth with more neighborhood, educational, job training and recreational opportunities.
Yesterday, the civil rights leader added rebuilding vacant houses to the activists’ list of better uses of state funds.
“You got 40,000 vacant houses and abandoned lots in Baltimore. 100,000 in Chicago. Another hundred thousand in Detroit,” Jackson said.
“We will not win on Tuesday and lose on Thursday,” Jackson said, speaking in the wake of Tuesday’s reelection of President Barack Obama.
O’Malley, citing conditions in the city detention facility, where teens are held along with adults, has said the plan is moving forward
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More participants in the “Reallocate to Recreate” rally in Baltimore.
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