I'm not entirely sure that's true.. That's not to say it's not a possibility, or that the riots didn't have some effect, but we really can't be sure. I've read people say this isn't Ferguson, and they couldn't be more right. Ferguson, white city council sans one Black member, white mayor, white DA, 52 police officers I believe? All but two are white, and this despite the population being almost 3/4 Black. On the other hand in Baltimore, Black mayor, Black DA, Black police chief, not sure what the racial makeup of the police force is. The family of Gray has connections to the DA or something according to previous posts?
That said, there's a pretty good chance that the indictment would have come down anyway regardless if folks would have rioted or not. For myself personally, I'm a bit disappointed that we'll never know because it would have been a perfect illustration of how actively participating in the system can benefit Black communities. Basically a direct contrast to what we see happens to places such as Ferguson who are not only marginalized by the system, but then marginalize themselves via lack of participation. I think it's shortsighted and irresponsible to view those who rioted as game changers. An argument can be made they did more damage and harm than good. I'm a firm believer in not giving a fukk what other people think about us, but when garnering the sympathy and support of other people to get them to recognize there's a problem here with police, it's not a good look to present anything to cause them to suspect the problem resides with us first and foremost. As a prideful Black man, I found the riots to be embarrasing and disappointing. Has me pondering thoughts on whether we've got excess fat within our communities that need to be cut off.
all da scary ass house nikkas dat was ridin dat "But dey lootin tho. Whhhyyy 
" bullshyt train.
