In 2015, Baltimore city erupted after the death of Freddie Carlos Gray. He was a 25-year-old who was forcibly placed into the back of a police van and after riding in the van, sustained several injuries that resulted in his death. After the video footage was shown to the public, a tension bubbled in the air that cause what seemed like weeklong protests and riots. The event is now referred to as the “Baltimore Uprising.” When he died, it was like a portion of each of us died. It was another narrative added to the cultural collective of Black faces killed by police violence. I was a year from graduating undergrad when Freddie Gray was killed. I remember distinctly, the feeling in the air There was a thickness. A sense of doom lurked in the air. This feeling has stayed with me for years after his death. The thickness, the heaviness of his death and the causes behind it are what interest me. The relationship between Black people in America and police has been tumultuous, gruesome, and counterproductive to progress of communities. Black identity and the Black body have been controversial since the creation of this identity. Blackness, identity, and policing and their connectedness is the reason behind this thesis. The relationship between Black identity and the continued attack on the presence of Blackness in America is a catalyst for this thesis, in which I explore the complexities and beauty of identity through an examination of the life and death of Freddie Gray. I explore how identity is linked throughout communities and the influence it has on both people and history. This thesis is important for me because of my identity. I am a Black woman from West Baltimore who grow up witnessing and experiencing Black Baltimore. To fully analyze my identity, the uprising, and its relation to the city, I collected sources from scholarly texts and conducted interviews from organizers and protestors who were present during the uprising, alongside my own perspective, and I use these varied sources to show how Freddie Gray’s life and death are emblematic of Black American identity.
","abstract_html":"<p>In 2015, Baltimore city erupted after the death of Freddie Carlos Gray. He was a 25-year-old who was forcibly placed into the back of a police van and after riding in the van, sustained several injuries that resulted in his death. After the video footage was shown to the public, a tension bubbled in the air that cause what seemed like weeklong protests and riots. The event is now referred to as the “Baltimore Uprising.” When he died, it was like a portion of each of us died. It was another narrative added to the cultural collective of Black faces killed by police violence. I was a year from graduating undergrad when Freddie Gray was killed. I remember distinctly, the feeling in the air There was a thickness. A sense of doom lurked in the air. This feeling has stayed with me for years after his death. The thickness, the heaviness of his death and the causes behind it are what interest me. The relationship between Black people in America and police has been tumultuous, gruesome, and counterproductive to progress of communities. Black identity and the Black body have been controversial since the creation of this identity. Blackness, identity, and policing and their connectedness is the reason behind this thesis. The relationship between Black identity and the continued attack on the presence of Blackness in America is a catalyst for this thesis, in which I explore the complexities and beauty of identity through an examination of the life and death of Freddie Gray. I explore how identity is linked throughout communities and the influence it has on both people and history. This thesis is important for me because of my identity. I am a Black woman from West Baltimore who grow up witnessing and experiencing Black Baltimore. To fully analyze my identity, the uprising, and its relation to the city, I collected sources from scholarly texts and conducted interviews from organizers and protestors who were present during the uprising, alongside my own perspective, and I use these varied sources to show how Freddie Gray’s life and death are emblematic of Black American identity.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Jennings, Montéz"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Ian Barnard","Dr. Renee Hudson","Dr. Joanna Levin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:24Z","subjects":["Freddie Gray","Black","American","Korryn Gaines","Baltimore","Police","Identity","African American Studies","Arts and Humanities","Ethnic Studies","Native American Studies","Other American Studies","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","Rhetoric","Rhetoric and Composition","Social Justice"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/52","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Ian Barnard","Dr. Renee Hudson","Dr. Joanna Levin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Jennings, Montéz"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Freddie Gray","Black","American","Korryn Gaines","Baltimore","Police","Identity","African American Studies","Arts and Humanities","Ethnic Studies","Native American Studies","Other American Studies","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","Rhetoric","Rhetoric and Composition","Social Justice"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/52"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In 2015, Baltimore city erupted after the death of Freddie Carlos Gray. He was a 25-year-old who was forcibly placed into the back of a police van and after riding in the van, sustained several injuries that resulted in his death. After the video footage was shown to the public, a tension bubbled in the air that cause what seemed like weeklong protests and riots. The event is now referred to as the “Baltimore Uprising.” When he died, it was like a portion of each of us died. It was another narrative added to the cultural collective of Black faces killed by police violence. I was a year from graduating undergrad when Freddie Gray was killed. I remember distinctly, the feeling in the air There was a thickness. A sense of doom lurked in the air. This feeling has stayed with me for years after his death. The thickness, the heaviness of his death and the causes behind it are what interest me. The relationship between Black people in America and police has been tumultuous, gruesome, and counterproductive to progress of communities. Black identity and the Black body have been controversial since the creation of this identity. Blackness, identity, and policing and their connectedness is the reason behind this thesis. The relationship between Black identity and the continued attack on the presence of Blackness in America is a catalyst for this thesis, in which I explore the complexities and beauty of identity through an examination of the life and death of Freddie Gray. I explore how identity is linked throughout communities and the influence it has on both people and history. This thesis is important for me because of my identity. I am a Black woman from West Baltimore who grow up witnessing and experiencing Black Baltimore. To fully analyze my identity, the uprising, and its relation to the city, I collected sources from scholarly texts and conducted interviews from organizers and protestors who were present during the uprising, alongside my own perspective, and I use these varied sources to show how Freddie Gray’s life and death are emblematic of Black American identity.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Jennings, Montéz. Innately American, Black America’s Inheritance: A Rhetorical Analysis of Black Death & Identity. 2022. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000380"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Innately American, Black America’s Inheritance: A Rhetorical Analysis of Black Death & Identity"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Ian Barnard","Dr. Renee Hudson","Dr. Joanna Levin"],"dc:creator":["Jennings, Montéz"],"dc:date.available":["2024-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In 2015, Baltimore city erupted after the death of Freddie Carlos Gray. He was a 25-year-old who was forcibly placed into the back of a police van and after riding in the van, sustained several injuries that resulted in his death. After the video footage was shown to the public, a tension bubbled in the air that cause what seemed like weeklong protests and riots. The event is now referred to as the “Baltimore Uprising.” When he died, it was like a portion of each of us died. It was another narrative added to the cultural collective of Black faces killed by police violence. I was a year from graduating undergrad when Freddie Gray was killed. I remember distinctly, the feeling in the air There was a thickness. A sense of doom lurked in the air. This feeling has stayed with me for years after his death. The thickness, the heaviness of his death and the causes behind it are what interest me. The relationship between Black people in America and police has been tumultuous, gruesome, and counterproductive to progress of communities. Black identity and the Black body have been controversial since the creation of this identity. Blackness, identity, and policing and their connectedness is the reason behind this thesis. The relationship between Black identity and the continued attack on the presence of Blackness in America is a catalyst for this thesis, in which I explore the complexities and beauty of identity through an examination of the life and death of Freddie Gray. I explore how identity is linked throughout communities and the influence it has on both people and history. This thesis is important for me because of my identity. I am a Black woman from West Baltimore who grow up witnessing and experiencing Black Baltimore. To fully analyze my identity, the uprising, and its relation to the city, I collected sources from scholarly texts and conducted interviews from organizers and protestors who were present during the uprising, alongside my own perspective, and I use these varied sources to show how Freddie Gray’s life and death are emblematic of Black American identity.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/english_theses/52"],"dc:source":["Jennings, Montéz. Innately American, Black America’s Inheritance: A Rhetorical Analysis of Black Death & Identity. 2022. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons, https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000380"],"dc:subject":["Freddie Gray","Black","American","Korryn Gaines","Baltimore","Police","Identity","African American Studies","Arts and Humanities","Ethnic Studies","Native American Studies","Other American Studies","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","Rhetoric","Rhetoric and Composition","Social Justice"],"dc:title":["Innately American, Black America’s Inheritance: A Rhetorical Analysis of Black Death & Identity"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:24Z"}