Throughout much of April, Baton Rouge had steeled itself for the long-awaited U.S. Department of Justice decision on the fate of the two Baton Rouge police officers involved in the 2016 shooting death of Alton Sterling.
As Business Report details in its new cover package, many had expected a return of the protests that followed Sterling’s killing last summer. Some had feared much worse—violence, looting, civil unrest.
But the May 3 announcement that police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II will not be prosecuted on federal civil rights charges proved relatively uneventful, perhaps because the outcome was expected, perhaps because the calls for peace were heeded, or perhaps because the weather that Wednesday was so dismal. Even a protest planned for the following weekend by the New Black Panther Party failed to attract more than a couple of dozen participants.
But the fact that the city did not erupt in mass demonstrations earlier this month does not mean that the issues that were the subtext of the protests last summer—economic disparity, systemic racism, intergenerational poverty, police treatment of black men—have been successfully addressed. It’s only been 10 months. The problems are very much the same.
What is, perhaps, different, is a more concerted and deliberate attempt within the business, political, educational and nonprofit sectors to focus on solving those problems. The Sterling shooting and subsequent protests haven’t changed anything, at least not yet. But initiatives, investments and efforts that were already underway when Sterling died seem now to be propelled by a greater sense of purpose and urgency.
At Southern University, leaders are partnering with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to develop a master plan intended not only to help grow the campus’ enrollment, but to transform the university into a catalyst for education and economic development in north Baton Rouge.
New residential complexes are under construction—or soon will be—along Airline Highway and at Howell Place, while a newly created Baton Rouge North Economic Development District puts in place an organizational structure to help guide future development.
New charter schools are opening in north Baton Rouge this fall, adding to a growing list of high-quality institutions that have come to the parish in just the past few years. And a new career high school is under construction at Ardendale, where it will join Baton Rouge Community College’s new automotive training center.
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is also trying to more aggressively promote north Baton Rouge to potential prospects, and is hopeful it might land a deal or two later this year. It also  hosted its first boot camp for aspiring entrepreneurs in north Baton Rouge.
Taken individually, any one of these items might not make much of a difference. Viewed collectively, they suggest there is reason for hope.
“There are some real green shoots you can see,” says John Davies, president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. “There’s a lot going on—some great community resources and you can build around those nodules of energy.”
Read the full cover package, which includes stories on an ambitious master plan being developed by Southern University, signs of economic progress in north Baton Rouge, BRAC’s plan to address economic disparities in the city-parish, and a profile on Triple S Food Mart owner Abdullah Muflahi.
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