Glenn Ross is a community consultant and activist. This interview was recorded at his home in East Baltimore in April 2006. 

Nicholas Wisniewski: Can you briefly introduce yourself?  Read more

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In what could prove to be a landmark case for public housing, the 2005 ruling in the class action lawsuit Thompson v. U.S. Read more

Bill Domhoff, author of the best-selling sociological monograph, Who Rules America?, tells this story to illustrate what ruling class power is all about. Speaking of an enormously wealthy and powerful woman, he said, “She knew that if she walked across a room and slipped and fell, there would be somebody there with a pillow to catch her.” Of course, not all people of power are treated like royalty,or act like royalty. In fact, most power brokers in cities such as Baltimore are invisible to the community. Read more

Residents who live north of the Johns Hopkins medical campus have been negatively impacted by the East Baltimore revitalization effort. Household displacements have occurred as part of a $1 billion redevelopment project that will construct five life science buildings, retail space and housing. The Save Middle East Action Committee (SMEAC (SMEAC) has organized against this redevelopment. This discussion was part of the (Re)living Democracy project at the Contemporary Museum (Nov. Read more

abandonment/blight: While abandoned or blighted properties may appear to be the antithesis of urban revitalization, they are in fact necessary preconditions: creating a situation in which investments by real estate and finance capital can produce profitable returns.1  Read more

In the U.S., eminent domain refers to the government’s power to appropriate private property for public use without the owner’s consent. Eminent domain is most commonly used when the acquisition of private property is necessary for the completion of a public project such as a road, and the owner of the required property is unwilling to negotiate a price for its sale. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires that just compensation be paid when the power of eminent domain is used, and requires that “public use” of the property be demonstrated. Read more