Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts CEO Sawyer resigns amid MLK Jr. parade controversy
BALTIMORE — The CEO of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, Donna Drew Sawyer, has resigned amid controversy over the city's Dr. Martin Luther Ling, Jr. Day Parade.
Last week, BOPA announced the parade was being canceled for the third year in a row, replacing it with a day of service.
That news didn't sit well with many, including the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP. Joshua Harris is the Vice President.
"For us, it was most frustrating about the lack of communication and such short notice that the parade was not going to happen and without a real explanation," Harris said.
Shortly after the cancellation, Mayor Brandon Scott announced the parade was back on and the city would be organizing it, leaving parade participants a with little time to figure things out.
"At this point, kind of a mad scramble to figure things out," Harris said. "At the moment we're actually trying to find the float to even participate in the parade, but if not, we will have members of the organization that will be donning NAACP paraphernalia and walking in the parade."
After the mayor greenlit the parade this week, he issued an ultimatum to BOPA, saying it needed to remove Sawyer as CEO or the city would pull its funding.
The mayor also created a new position to oversee city events.
He's appointed BOPA's current Chief Marketing and Programs Officer to the job.
We spoke to him Wednesday following the news of Sawyer's resignation.
"This was really me reaching a breaking point of knowing arts and culture in Baltimore means so much and we have to have leadership that wants to move that forward and now we're going to have that," Mayor Scott said.
While Harris and the NAACP prep for the parade, he hopes the community remembers the significance of it.
"This is an opportunity for us to come together and celebrate and just enjoy each other as a community," Harris said. "I think that, sometimes, that sense of community is overlooked and we recognize that if nothing else, that's what this parade symbolizes."
BOPA issued a statement about Sawyer's departure, thanking her for her service.
The MLK parade will be held on Monday at noon along MLK Boulevard. The Mayor's Office said they will be putting more details out about it soon.
