tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17300290.post115248782372986820..comments2024-03-28T05:14:02.776-04:00Comments on Sketchy Thoughts: Our Trip to Baltimorekersplebedebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08148717542412439319noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17300290.post-1152658233061186992006-07-11T18:50:00.000-04:002006-07-11T18:50:00.000-04:00Hey, for what it's worth - i wasn't assuming anyth...Hey, for what it's worth - i wasn't assuming anything or meaning to imply anything regarding any group's "responsibility" for stores being or not being at the bookfair.<BR/><BR/>From my own personal perspective as an outsider, the event was very much appreciated, and seemed exceptionally well organized.<BR/><BR/>i hope to go to next year's bookfair, and yes it would/will be great to see some of those local Baltimore stores represented there. (though with the great map you provided us with we managed to visit most of them on Monday)kersplebedebhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08148717542412439319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17300290.post-1152651174183642462006-07-11T16:52:00.000-04:002006-07-11T16:52:00.000-04:00we were also bummed that lambda rising and everyon...we were also bummed that lambda rising and everyone's place never made it out to table. the former was supposed to table for one day, but i think was stretched too thin to send someone over. more or less the same thing happened with normal's, baltimore's collectively run used bookstore, who we also really wanted to table. everyone's place, who we really desparately wanted to table, especially so all the infoshops there could get set up with african world books accounts, had some seriously tragic stuff go down right before the bookfair. and black classic press, another great baltimore book project, had a conflict with an event they had been planning. hopefully next year we can be a little more on top of all this...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17300290.post-1152642207785904542006-07-11T14:23:00.000-04:002006-07-11T14:23:00.000-04:00I'd say your impressions about Baltimore were spot...I'd say your impressions about Baltimore were spot on. <BR/><BR/>Did you know that Sakai was actually living in Baltimore when he was penning "Settlers". It's still a very socially segregated city, and the interaction between class and race is plainly visible to everyone. That doesn't stop there from being a black bourgeois and black politico-compradors allied with the black churches, and also nearby suburban Prince George's County has the highest per-capita income for a black population in the U.S. There is a substantial black "middle class" that have salaries from their work in federal, state and city governments as well as many black workers in SOME of the unions. A lot has changed since Sakai wrote "Settlers". You also didn't tour the mostly white working class suburbs of Essex and Dundalk.<BR/><BR/>That said, Sakai's analysis is of much less use in understanding relatively racially homogenous coal-country in Applachia, or in Vermont. I think there are some qualitative differences here, and I also suspect that relationship in Baltimore is much different than in Canada or Montreal. That's why, when bring up Sakai's analysis I think some comrades look at us as if we have two heads. It's a situation where we all have felt a different part of the elephant.<BR/><BR/>Paul, from British Columbia, had some similar impressions of Baltimore and described some in his <A HREF="http://r1vethead.livejournal.com/" REL="nofollow">own journal</A>. One thing I elaborated on was the <A HREF="http://r1vethead.livejournal.com/14147.html" REL="nofollow">local prisons</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com