Crossing Boundaries with Marc Steiner

After listening to the Marc Steiner presentation online, I regret not being able to attend the event in person. Steiner is such an inspirational and motivational speaker that he makes you want to just jump out of your seat and start breaking ground. I was really intrigued by the way Steiner incorporated the history of America and all the myths that have cultivated our society into his theme of crossing racial, gender, and other boundaries. Growing up in America, you are predisposed to stereotypes and discrimination that do affect the way we as "the people" view the world. We learn the white race is superior or women are supposed to be subservient to men; however, all of these are social constructions created by the "common American man". Once we the people realize that these false statements should not dictate our lives, we can challenge them. In addition, Steiner states it isn't a leader who creates a movement but a group of individuals willing to challenge such inequalities and elect a leader to represented what they have started. He references MLK Jr. and the women's movement, which were two critical movements sparked by average individuals fighting for social change. Once a group of individuals unite to fight for a cause, change can take place. 

I love the fact that Steiner is challenging the prison system because in one of my previous american studies courses (gender & inequality) i had learned just how corrupt the prison system had been and still is. The prison system is an institution that reinforces the inequalities that we are still fighting to break. Groups of Anti-prison activists have formed to deal with the unfair treatment of own Americans. This is the 21st Century where we all should be equal and have an equal opportunity at living the American dream; however, much of America has not changed. 

I feel that our work within the Baybrook community will help elicit or contribute to a movement that will bring together the marginalized and challenge America's system. The students after our class will follow our imprint and use their abilities or talents to further develop the movement until change is made.   

Promoting and Reaching Out

After a week or more of compiling ideas and information from my committee members, I feel as though we have all the necessary components for creating a successful fundraiser. My group members are definitely knowledgeable, reliable, and experienced when it comes to outreach and promotion. We have made plans to set up blogs, a Facebook page, newspaper ads, and all sorts of media related informational sources. On the other hand, we plan on reaching out to the community members, local business owners of both Baybrook and businesses near 2640, and even the mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake by using word of mouth paired with flyers and Save The Date concepts. After hearing the plans from the other committees (History and Event Planning), I'm blessed to have such a hard-working and knowledgeable group of people in the same classroom. Everyone is on top of their game and contributes creative ideas that will promote an amazing fundraiser. 

I really need to focus on establishing a convenient schedule that enables me to be present in the Baybrook community because actually interacting with the people will make the fundraiser even more real. Yet, I'm excited to reach out to mayor Rawlings-Blake for both making an appearance at the fundraiser and possibly making a contribution to our cause. It seems as though the mayoral election has been pushed back to 2016, which gives her more time to attend Baltimore City events and win the hearts of it's citizens. 

Guano Industry Documentation Conclusions and Committees

After hours of exhausting google, proquest, and UMBC library searches for a history of the Guano Industry in the Baybrook area, I was able to find a specific location in Curtis Bay (5501 Pennington Ave) where several Industries had produced and sold guano or other fertilizer nutrients (sulfur). The Standard Guano Co. built a industry on this location in 1914 generated large sums of revenue from the sale of fertilizers. However, Standard Guano sold the land to Standard Wholesale Phosphate and Acid Works in 1925, which would be followed by several more ownership exchanges. Yet Standard Wholesale Phosphate and Acids Works was considered to be the top sulphuric acid producing plant in the world in 1950 and created a new system for producing 500 tons of quality sulphuric acid a day. Then Standard sold the company to Mathieson Chemical in 1949, Mathieson Chemical to Essex Chemical, Esses to Dow Chemical in 1988, Dow to Peridot Chemicals in 1989, and finally Peridot to General Chemical in 1997, where then plant closed in January of 2003. Furthermore, in 2007 an ethanol company titled Atlantic Ethanol proposed a plan to build a $100 million to $150 million ethanol plant on this property. The ethanol plant is said to benefit the local Baltimore economy by creating jobs and is actually claimed to reduce air pollution. The Atlantic Ethanol plant would be the largest plant on the East Coast. 

I did find many documents displaying these industries stock prices and dividends, but not much regarding the impact they contributed to the local economy, community, environment, or workers. Yet I did enjoy finding out the history of exporting guano from the Navassa Island (between Peru and Haiti) to Baltimore's ports. Baltimore during the 19th Century was the largest importer of guano in the world. The majority of the miners on the Navassa island were permanent residents of Baltimore.

I've heard the 2640 space is a great location for our community fundraiser and I am excited to see the end result in May. I chose join the outreach and promotion committee for the fundraiser because i believe a successful fundraiser stems from a strong promotional base. In order to generate the revenue you need to be considered successful you need to make sure that community members and other attendees are notified in advanced. The date must be saved in their calendars and they must be reminded of it through flyers, radio announcements, social media pages, and word of mouth.