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In the Media: 'Rough Ride' Lawsuit; Ruth Starr Rose at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum

A painting by Ruth Starr Rose, whose work is on exhibit at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum
Ruth Starr Rose
/
Reginald F. Lewis Museum
A painting by Ruth Starr Rose, whose work is on exhibit at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum

A digest of Baltimore news from local sources.

From The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Approves $95,000 Settlement in ‘Rough Ride’ Lawsuit

"Baltimore’s spending panel voted unanimously Wednesday to pay a woman $95,000 to settle her lawsuit that included allegations that she was subjected to a "rough ride" in a police van in 2012.

"The Board of Estimates voted 5-0 to settle a federal lawsuit involving a now-28-year-old woman who claimed she was thrown in the back of a police van, left unbuckled and "maniacally" driven after her arrest at a party in Hampden. Christine Abbott said she was slammed against the van's wall during the ride, which left her feeling like "a piece of cargo."

"City Solicitor George Nilson, a member of the board, said the alleged "rough ride" was not a "central issue" in the city's decision to settle. "There were no injuries resulting from the woman's transport in the van," he said. He added that the van driver denied operating the vehicle in an erratic manner.

"More concerning to city officials, Nilson said, was that during Abbott's altercation with police, one of her breasts was left exposed.

'A 90-pound woman would not appear to present a safety challenge,' Nilson said. He added that city had 'lawyers fees running' in federal court, and it made financial sense to end the litigation."

Full Article

From The AFRO American: 5 Shot in West Baltimore Neighborhood

"Baltimore Police say five people have been shot in a west Baltimore neighborhood.

"Department spokesman T.J. Smith says the shooting occurred about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday when a lone gunman shot at people who were on the street.

"Four people were shot in the legs and one person suffered a graze wound, Smith said, adding that the injuries do not appear to be life-threatening. Four of the victims, who, Smith said, range in ages from 17 to 55, were being treated at hospitals.

"This was the second multiple midday shooting in Baltimore in less than a week. On Friday afternoon, one man was killed and four people were hurt in a shooting outside a strip of stores.

"Smith reiterated that police need the community’s help in identifying the shooters."

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From The Washington Post: Before ‘Black Lives Matter,’ There was Ruth Starr Rose

"Long before there was a “Black Lives Matter” movement, there was Ruth Starr Rose — an activist artist whose paintings nearly a century ago captured the dignity and spirit of America’s black families at a time when stereotype and caricature prevailed.

"It is fitting that an exhibition of her 20th-century work should find its way this week to Baltimore and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum as the city continues to recover from the tragic death of Freddie Gray. Rose, who died in 1965, would have recognized the Gray incident and ensuing riots as all too familiar.

"As it happens, her last exhibition in Baltimore was in 1933 following the lynching of an African American man (who had special needs) near her family’s farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. National Guard troops were sent in as civil unrest erupted.

"Barbara Paca, art historian and world-renowned landscape architect, began collecting Rose’s work about 10 years ago, following leads wherever they took her. In one instance, she paid some dopers for Rose drawings that she’d tracked down in the attic of the house they occupied. There she also found a list of names scrawled in Rose’s hand that led her to other people and paintings."

Full Article