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The media called it a riot, but on the streets of Baltimore they call it an uprising. The police murder of Freddie Gray ignited mass protests that have been called Black Spring. But in working class Black communities across the city, the issues go beyond police violence. Over a quarter of Baltimore residents are paying more than half of their income to housing. Nearly 150,000 cases a year are brought to Baltimore City Rent Court because tenants are unable to pay their rent. Over 30% of rental housing in Baltimore is considered so substandard it’s uninhabitable. Jobs are gone, schools are underfunded, and money for development only goes to the wealthy communities. The Laura Flanders Show heard all this and more from the people on the front lines of the struggle.

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Laura Flanders

Laura Flanders is an Air America radio host and journalist. She is the author of Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species and Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting. Flanders was the Founding Director of the Women's Desk at the media-watch group FAIR.