As coverage of Baltimore this week focuses mostly on protests and riots over police brutality, TCF fellow Stefanie DeLuca broadens the narrative by giving a real voice to the city’s youth. A sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, DeLuca works with Baltimore’s low-income populations as part of her research. The quotes below are pulled from her Twitter feed and come from a ten-year study of families and youth in Baltimore to be published in a forthcoming book. The study, conducted with Kathryn Edin and Susan Clampet-Lundquist, looked at the transition to adulthood for 150 youth hailing from Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods—many who were born in the high rises that stood in the 1990s. Using the hashtags #RealBaltimoreYouth and #ChildrenNotThugs, DeLuca sheds light on what much of the media has not—the everyday struggles and dreams of Baltimore’s youth.
Stefanie DeLuca: Been following youth and families from Baltimore for ten years. These are their voices. If they surprise you, pass it on.
Tristan, 16, on school: “I keep pushing myself to keep on working until, until they tell me to stop.”
Justin, 23: “Well, I just love sandin’ floors. I’m a carpenter before anything.”
Matthew, 21: “I might not even make it to the future. You never know what’s happening. This is Baltimore, so…”
Bob loves punk rock, anime, and Shakespeare. He has 3 jobs, with an iron in his backpack to keep uniforms nice.
Kayla, 16: “I wanna be an orthodontist since I was like 7. I always wanted to go to college.”
William, 18: “I worked at Burger King in 11th grade. It was a lot of hard work, taught me I had to follow directions.”
Vicky has a pigeon coop. She goes out to see her birds when she’s frustrated.
Cody, 19: “I wanted to become a police officer just from seeing what’s going on in Baltimore everyday. I want to change that”
Jackson, 22, has written a few novels when he’s not working at KFC. It’s how he vents his feelings.
Rhiannon, a BA graduate: “Someone saw potential in me, a program for underprivileged children who were excelling.”
Ashanti, 22: “As far as friends, I don’t surround myself with people that do illegal things.”
Gary saved up for a car, and won’t let anyone in with drugs: “They know not to get in my car with any of that stuff!”
Larry, 21: “You see other people that was on the corners, and I’m tryin to make myself better”
Dana works with disabled adults and dreams of being a nurse. She was quite the poet in school.
Rome: “I just go inside every store and ask for applications…lookin’ for a job, it don’t matter”
Antonio, 23, is proud of his badge—it shows he’s a security guard at Hopkins.
Follow Stefanie on Twitter @Stefanie_DeLuca and read more of her work on the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program here.
Tags: baltimore, youth, stefanie deluca, urban neighborhoods
Voices of Real Baltimore Youth
As coverage of Baltimore this week focuses mostly on protests and riots over police brutality, TCF fellow Stefanie DeLuca broadens the narrative by giving a real voice to the city’s youth. A sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, DeLuca works with Baltimore’s low-income populations as part of her research. The quotes below are pulled from her Twitter feed and come from a ten-year study of families and youth in Baltimore to be published in a forthcoming book. The study, conducted with Kathryn Edin and Susan Clampet-Lundquist, looked at the transition to adulthood for 150 youth hailing from Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods—many who were born in the high rises that stood in the 1990s. Using the hashtags #RealBaltimoreYouth and #ChildrenNotThugs, DeLuca sheds light on what much of the media has not—the everyday struggles and dreams of Baltimore’s youth.
Stefanie DeLuca: Been following youth and families from Baltimore for ten years. These are their voices. If they surprise you, pass it on.
Tristan, 16, on school: “I keep pushing myself to keep on working until, until they tell me to stop.”
Justin, 23: “Well, I just love sandin’ floors. I’m a carpenter before anything.”
Matthew, 21: “I might not even make it to the future. You never know what’s happening. This is Baltimore, so…”
Bob loves punk rock, anime, and Shakespeare. He has 3 jobs, with an iron in his backpack to keep uniforms nice.
Kayla, 16: “I wanna be an orthodontist since I was like 7. I always wanted to go to college.”
William, 18: “I worked at Burger King in 11th grade. It was a lot of hard work, taught me I had to follow directions.”
Vicky has a pigeon coop. She goes out to see her birds when she’s frustrated.
Cody, 19: “I wanted to become a police officer just from seeing what’s going on in Baltimore everyday. I want to change that”
Jackson, 22, has written a few novels when he’s not working at KFC. It’s how he vents his feelings.
Rhiannon, a BA graduate: “Someone saw potential in me, a program for underprivileged children who were excelling.”
Ashanti, 22: “As far as friends, I don’t surround myself with people that do illegal things.”
Gary saved up for a car, and won’t let anyone in with drugs: “They know not to get in my car with any of that stuff!”
Larry, 21: “You see other people that was on the corners, and I’m tryin to make myself better”
Dana works with disabled adults and dreams of being a nurse. She was quite the poet in school.
Rome: “I just go inside every store and ask for applications…lookin’ for a job, it don’t matter”
Antonio, 23, is proud of his badge—it shows he’s a security guard at Hopkins.
Follow Stefanie on Twitter @Stefanie_DeLuca and read more of her work on the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program here.
Tags: baltimore, youth, stefanie deluca, urban neighborhoods