This bus tour will explore west Baltimore, focusing on Pennsylvania Avenue, the former center of Baltimore's African-American culture. Centuries of disinvestment, discriminatory urban planning, and racist real estate policies have resulted in the tragic decline of this neighborhood. Pennsylvania Avenue was once home to several establishments on the Chitlin Circuit, where performers such as Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald performed. The ill-fated war on drugs, police brutality, middle-class Black flight and the results of redlining, blockbusting, and urban renewal projects took its toll on West Baltimore. The result is what you now see. Pennsylvania Avenue has recently become the Black Arts District, a State of Maryland designated arts district. The neighborhood is in the planning phase of a major revitalization. The historic tour will give a new perspective on west Baltimore and show goers that this community is worth saving and restoring. The tour will be facilitated and hosted by members of the staff of of the Druid Heights CDC.