#PrayForBaltimore Shows A City In Healing

Following events of huge national importance such as the Baltimore riots, many journalists head to Twitter to take the public’s temperature. Usually what merits media attention are the responses of anger or outrage. But if #BaltimoreUprising brings up the pain and grief felt by many in response to the Baltimore riots on Twitter, a search for #PrayForBaltimore yields a more peaceful but less viral response.

In the wake of volunteer cleanup crews scouring the city and the locals passing out food and water to Baltimore police officers, there is also a public outpouring of prayers and other expressions of hope on Twitter. Only a day after the riots, Baltimore resident Charlize Mason celebrated her 9th birthday. Mason admitted to Fox 5’s Beth Parker that she was “scared a lot,” and prayed for peace in Baltimore. Video began circulating of Bloods and Crips marching together in the aftermath of the riot's chaos.

The response serves as a reminder of what fueled the riots: a peaceful plea for justice. It also serves as an apt illustration of how many locals compartmentalize their anger over Freddie Gray's death and the larger issue of police brutality and their anger toward the violent uprising that took such an aggressive hold on their beloved city.