For more than 25 years, Rev. Willie E. Ray, a fixture on Baltimore’s troubled streets, has held rallies and vigils to draw attention to drug-related killings in the city.

Yesterday the founder of Save Another Youth – Stop the Violence Coalition held a block party on his home turf on the 2800 block of Harlem Avenue to bring his message to Rosemont.

Ministers, community activists, artists and writers gathered to talk to about 100 residents about “senseless” violence and ways to build respect and pride through self-help and self-education.

Spoken-word poetry was read by Ron Kipling Williams, a performance artist and member of the Black Male Identity Band, which co-sponsored the event with a live DJ.

“People feel so disenfranchised and powerless that they may do things that are detrimental to their community. They have to understand that they have ownership of what goes on in their community,” Williams said.

He and others said that more youth programs in the community were key to ending the cycle of violence.

Between games of basketball and plates of free hamburgers, hot dogs and chips, several kids talked about how violence and drug dealing affected their lives.

“I want people to stop fighting and selling drugs,” said 11-year-old Teon Stewart. Added Tiandre Taylor, age 8: “I want to stop hearing people curse all the time and I want the community to be cleaner.”

Edna Lawrence, an artist and writer, complained that “dirty politics” was at the root of Baltimore’s ills.

Gesturing to the residents around her, she said, “You cannot govern a community with dirty politics. These are everyday people with everyday needs and everyday conditions that aren’t being addressed.”

Anton Pridget, an outreach worker for Group Ministries, accompanied Rev. Ray in distributing pamphlets and talking to people who stopped by.

“I wanted to participate in the block party when I saw the flyer for it,” Pridget said. “I haven’t always been on the right side of the track until my boss, Rev. Horace Smith at Group Ministries, took a chance on me and gave me a job as an outreach worker. Now I have a chance to give back to the community.”

Begrudging Respect

Rev. Ray began ministering on the streets, holding makeshift seminars on how to stop gang violence and get off drugs, not long after he was “awakened” as a teenager caught in the 1968 Baltimore race riots that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

He has been organizing vigils for crime victims since 1985, when he held his first ceremony for Calvert Hall basketball player Craig Cromwell, who was murdered on West Franklin Street while walking home from his girlfriend’s house.

“I just want to bring peace and harmony to the earth,” he said yesterday, noting that his motto is “One Church, One Corner, One Community, One Safety House.”

He has never led a church congregation and his religious training ended with attendance at two courses at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, according to a 1997 profile in the Baltimore Sun.

Nevertheless, his dogged efforts to keep street violence and drive-by shootings in the public eye have made him a legend, both infuriating city politicians and winning him begrudging respect.

Rev. Dr. Alvin Gwynn Sr., president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, gave his stamp of approval to yesterday’s block party by offering a welcome speech. (Rev. Gwynn did not mention the alliance’s controversial endorsement of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake last week.)

Also briefly present was City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young, who shook hands with residents but declined to be photographed.