Wow! Baltimore looks like a third world country! So the day started off nice enough. It was dawn on a late winter day - a sunny Sunday morning in rural Virginia..
By noon, I would be nearly attacked, isolated, panicked, and nearly trapped in some of the worst hoods I’ve ever seen. But that would come later. It was about 7 am on February 23, 2020 and I was going to Baltimore.
Now when you get to Baltimore, it smacks you in the face. Like, you’re in Baltimore, bitch. There is no denying you’re here when you pull off and make the short trek from the highway into the center of it all.
Now, most of the time when I visit a bad area, I have a driver so I can control the camera. But I couldn’t convince anyone to drive me. People were either too scared or busy. So I had to film by myself. Typically, when I drive areas by myself, I mount my camera on my Jeep like this and control it through the open sun roof.
But I realized that was NOT going to work in Baltimore. I would have to move the camera inside the car and mount it to the dash like this in order to avoid drawing too much attention to myself, or having the camera stolen.
So, I apologize in advance for the sun glare on the windshield during many shots in which I was facing the sun. But as it turns out, being able to hold the camera in my hand allowed me to get angles of people that were only 20 feet away.
But as you’ll see, I had to hide the camera a lot whenever i was waiting for a light and large groups of people were nearby. A white boy in the hood with a camera wasn’t really...normal.
For this drive, we’re going to spend most of our time in this general area here on the west side of town. Anything west of Martin Luthur King and north and west of Pennsylvania is generally worst area of Baltimore I could find.
I’ll just let this roll. There really isn’t a lot to say that can tell much of a story outside of what it looks like outside of my car. That is up until someone tries to get into the car.
So i had a phone call i had to take and pulled over on a street that wasnt HORRIBLE. But I clearly stood out. This man right here spotted me from a block away and soon you’ll hear him try and open the passenger door.
That was the one and ONLY time I stopped anywhere in Baltimore that wasn’t at a red light.
In this hood, there aren’t any Redbox machines or ATM machines or bike racks. There are no water fountains. Nor are there any greenbelts or places to sit and relax. It’s liquor stores, bars, clothing and fast food.
To me, Baltimore isn’t only intimidating. It’s actually beautifully and perfectly ghetto. It would be challenging to create a more exact replica of a rundown, desperate inner city. Every corner, every building and every person is in its perfect place and perfectly flawed.
The groups of dark skinned people with their urban clothes, smoking their blunts in complete disregard for what most people think is normal. Like - it’s Sunday morning, but I’m going to stand outside the liquor stores and flaunt my independence. Some are looking for drugs and booze. Some are looking for trouble. Many are looking for camaraderie. Like this is okay if we’re doing it TOGETHER.
The abandonment, the trash, the almost lawlessness - there’s nothing quite like it in the country that I’ve ever seen. I thought I was going to see angry lost people, poverty and slums. But...I thought this place was beautiful. It’s the most perfect American ghetto you could ever create.
What you gonna do in my hood
What you gonna do if ya could
I see ya peepin at me
Rollin around with that camera always pointed at me
Tryin to pull me outta my jeep
Youre playin with me
I'm just a white dude tryin to take a peek
At Baltimore
Why you lookin at me
Trying to lookin at you standing there all looking at me
This place is crazy to me
Id bet you couldn't agree that i ima dangerous YouTuber with my homie Mappy
Song by: Move Out, MK2
This channel talks about America, different states, education, travel, geography and what it's like to live in different places in America.
Business email: robikmarketing1@gmail.com
Mappy: Mappy@HomeSnacks.net. He'll do his best to answer your questions and fan mail.
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