Protest

A group of workers laid off from the ESPN Zone say the company violated federal workplace protection laws when it suddenly closed the Inner Harbor restaurant in Baltimore two weeks ago — an allegation the company denies. More than 20 of the 140 people who worked at the sports-themed restaurant and entertainment venuegathered outside the Power Plant development Wednesday morning in a protest organized by the United Workers Association of Baltimore, an advocacy group for low-wage workers.

Near City Hall, 5-year-old Shalyn Lloyd stood wearing a green hoodie and carrying a sign that read: "Are we next?" His sign expressed the outrage felt by hundreds who marched in downtown Baltimore on Monday night — and thousands more who have rallied in cities around the nation in recent days — to protest the failure of Florida authorities to arrest George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who killed teenager Trayvon Martin on...

The Sun has invited participants in the Occupy Baltimore protest to submit occasional articles describing their experiences, ideas and goals. This one, from Baltimore resident Jenny Gaeng , provides one protester's perspecti ve on a memo circulated at the protest that drew criticism for apparently suggesting that any allegations of sexual assault at the encampment be handled internally and that victims not call police. Well, it's finally happened.  Occupy Baltimore, the 100-person occupation fighting valiantly to stay abo ve water, has made the national news.

A handful of Westboro Baptist Church protesters picketing same-sex marriage in front of courthouses in Annapolis and Towson Wednesday were met with large groups of counter-protesters holding signs preaching tolerance. In the state capital, more than 250 people gathered in the early morning, singing carols, to counter four members of the ultra-conservative Westboro Baptist, which is based in Kansas. St. Anne's Episcopal Church, across the street from the Annapolis courthouse, organized the counter-protest there.

Carrying signs with slogans like "No awards for dog killers" and "Cowards abuse animals," Tuesday evening about 100 protesters picketed the award ceremony at which convicted dogfighter Michael Vick received an award for his courage and sportsmanship. Protesters, many holding pictures of Vick's mutilated fighting dogs, and a few with dogs of their own on leashes, lined the road leading to the Martin's West banquet hall, where the Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback, was set to accept the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation's coveted honor.

It takes a really serious issue to prompt little kids to grab placards and protest in public, chanting their discontent. But on a sticky, hot afternoon Monday, with no pool to splash around in, children attending a summer camp at the St. Frances Academy Community Center in East Baltimore had all the motivation they needed. The kids, some as young as eight, gathered for their protest at Ambrose Kennedy, one of 13 so-called walk-to pools in the city that will remain closed until July 9 because of budgetary constraints.

Several hundred people gathered on Paul Laurence Dunbar High School's football field Sunday afternoon to protest state plans to build a $100 million, 230-bed detention facility in Baltimore for juveniles criminally charged as adults. The two-hour rally culminated in a candle-lit march to the proposed construction site, a quarter-mile away next to the Baltimore City Detention Center, where protesters — chanting "educate, don't incarcerate" — used bolt-cutters to strip away the chain link fence protecting the property.

Two activists who entered Baltimore City Hall on Monday afternoon and demanded to speak with the mayor about a wide range of issues affecting city residents were later arrested for trespassing and escorted out of the building in handcuffs. They never met with the mayor. The Rev. Cortly "C.D. " Witherspoon, of the Baltimore chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Sharon Black, of the Baltimore People's Assembly, had wanted to deliver a letter to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake that demanded an "emergency meeting" to discuss police brutality, the closing of recreation centers and fire companies, and the creation of more city jobs programs, according to the letter.

I was recently shown a picture from one of the Occupy protests taking place across the country. It featured a young woman surrounded by police. She was the only protester in the picture, but she didn't seem intimidated. All by herself, up against the police barricade, she held a handwritten sign saying simply, "I am a born again American. " I've never met this woman, but I think I know exactly what she's feeling. I had my first "born again American" moment 30 years ago, when I was moved to outrage and action by a group of hate-preaching televangelists who were trying to claim sole ownership of patriotism, faith and flag for the far right.

I am impressed by Jabriera Handy's story of her experience in jail and her work today as a youth organizer ("Occupy right to question youth jail plan," Jan. 23). Remarkably, she does not sound bitter, but rather, at a young age, has turned her experience into fuel for activism. Baltimore does not need a youth jail. My only bone to pick with what she writes is her reluctance to approve of civil disobedience as a form of protest against the planned jail. I don't know the details of how the Occupy folks conducted themselves, but civil disobedience is a time-honored, dignified form of speech.