How It Started
In May, 2017, this movement started as a city-wide call, asking Baltimore residents to avoid having any murders from Friday, August 4th through Sunday, August 6th, 2017. It was also a city-wide call, asking Baltimore residents to celebrate life during the ceasefire, by joining with others to plan life-affirming events.
The August 2017 Baltimore Ceasefire/Baltimore Peace Challenge was historical for Baltimore City. There were over 50 events, countless residents received resources they needed, and there was no murder for a total of 67 out of the 72 hours. At a time when the statistic was one murder every nineteen hours in Baltimore, the beginning of the August 2017 ceasefire saw 41 continuous hours without murder.
Baltimore mourned the loss of Lamontrey Tynes and Donte Johnson on Day 2 of the August 2017 ceasefire. This shook us, down to our roots. People from around the world rushed to send love and support to both families. The loss of our brothers showed us that we had been numb in relation to daily murders in Baltimore… which led to new affirmations: #DontBeNumb and #VibrateHigher. These new affirmations reminded us to honor every life that Baltimore loses, to use the pain to be better to one another, and to work even harder to heal violence.
In the first 2 years of the movement, research showed that Baltimore was up to 53% more peaceful on these life-affirming weekends.
In November of 2022, the movement shifted its focus. It needed a name and logo that only declared what it’s about, not what it’s against. This shift came as the movement became more intentional about using the laws of creation in creating what we all want for Baltimore. In understanding that focusing on what we don’t want manifests struggling with what we don’t want… and that focusing on what we do want manifests seeing more of what we want… the movement decided to get a new name, tagline, and logo that only focuses on what we want and what we’re about. Also, in understanding that there is much more peace in Baltimore than there is violence, the movement decided to amplify that fact, in its work.
The movement asked Baltimore to suggest ideas, which produced:
New Name: Baltimore Peace Movement
New Tagline: Peace Is The Promise
New Hashtag: #BaltimorePeacePromise
Throughout the year, this movement serves as a hub for organizations and citizens to support one another, work together, and share resources, with the goal of amplifying peace and joy in Baltimore City.
Goal & Process
The ultimate goal of Baltimore Peace Movement is for everyone in the city to feel so centered in their individual peace and joy that it causes peace to be the only experience Baltimore residents share with one another. “Peace Is The Promise” because, by nature, we all have peace inside of us, and we all have the ability to lean into that peace. This movement creates opportunities for Baltimore to notice, uplift, nurture, share, and bask in the peace that already exists within each of us.
In doing outreach for Peace Promise Weekends, residents are:
helping each other get the resources they need in their lives
having conversations with each other about how to handle conflict peacefully
making commitments to one another to be as peaceful as possible in thoughts, words, and deeds, for AT LEAST the Peace Promise Weekend.
We know that there will come a time when everyone in Baltimore will honor that these are sacred weekends and will honor each Peace Promise Weekend.
By agreeing to sacred weekends of being peaceful, and by receiving the resources needed to help us be peaceful in our conflicts, Baltimore will see more and more days where everyone in the city handles their conflicts peacefully.
Throughout the year, this movement serves as a hub for organizations and community members to support one another, work together, and share resources with the goal of nurturing and expanding joy, love, and peace Baltimore City.
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