ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Baltimore has a message for Americans who believe in law and order, and our justice system.
So it’s incumbent upon us all to pay very close attention.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake addressed the media Thursday, as has been customary since all hell broke loose Monday night. One of the most “powerful” women in the state of Maryland, she has been telling us that the pictures we see and the words we read about her hometown don’t always present a clear, focused picture.
Well, of course that’s not true.
The media are and have been doing a great job for all the world to see and hear.
The media delivered another of her unfiltered messages and visuals Thursday.
There she stood, delivering another of her biased, insightful takes on Baltimore. The spot she chose was the same one chosen the same day by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who had spoken his piece — always orchestrated to spotlight his point of view on justice.
It was there above the mayor’s head — to her right, to her left — where she told the world that she has locked hands with Rev. Al.
She needn’t say the words, though, because the backdrop spoke volumes, emblazoned as it was with the letters NAN for Rev. Al’s National Action Network and the slogan “No Justice No Peace.”
Most of us pretty much understood why the mayor was dressed down in a ball cap this week.
She was displaying support for Baltimore-based Under Armour, whose logo is as ubiquitous as McCormick food and spices, founded in Charm City in 1889, and as easily recognizable in the Baltimore-Washington region as the one-eyed, mustachioed logo for Natty Boh, a beer first brewed in Baltimore in 1885.
We understand the mayor’s wardrobe choice. Using Rev. Al’s platform? His backdrop?
Whose message is Mayor Rawlings-Blake delivering? Hers or Rev. Al’s?
The woman in the hot seat
Marilyn Mosby is the woman weighing the scales of justice after the death of Freddie Gray, 25, whose spine injuries led to his death.
Here are a few things you should know about Mrs. Mosby.
Who: Born in 1970 and reared in Boston, her parents, grandfather and uncles were police officers. Married husband Nick, a Baltimore city councilman, in 2004.
What: A Democrat who beat an incumbent in the party’s 2014 primary.
When: She was seated as the city’s state’s attorney in January.
Mrs. Mosby said Thursday that the police findings in the Gray case are in her hands and that her office is probing as well.
As demonstrators continue to press for the truth and answers in the questionable death and handling of Gray, this Mosby campaign quote offers insight.
Quote: “I believe that we are the justice system.”
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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