I am proud to represent Urban Reads Bookstore and am so thankful that Tia opened her store here in our district on Greenmount Avenue a few years ago. What she has gone through the last couple of days is unacceptable. White supremacists are emboldened now and decided to pick in on a Black woman and her business with horrible social media messages and stalking behavior. What they didn’t anticipate was that the entire city would come to her defense when she needed it most.
Unfortunately, this will not be the last time this type of harassment will take place. The federal level is declaring war on our Black and Brown communities. But we are in Baltimore. We will not back down. We are digging in, proudly celebrating our diversity, and protecting our residents.
If such racial hatred happens to you, or you witness it, please contact 911 immediately. You can also report hate crimes to the Maryland Hate Crimes Hotline at 1-866-481-8361.
I will continue to support Tia and Urban Reads as she deals with this terrible situation. I encourage everyone to stop by and show their support.