Annapolis Stories:Living for the Dream: Joseph Zastrow Simms

On the evening of April 4, 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

In the wake of his death, more than 125 American cities and towns exploded in a fireball of violence that left entire neighborhoods in ruins for decades.

Although many people don't realize it, Annapolis came very close to being one of those cities. But it was only because two men reached across the racial divide in the spirit of Rev. King's vision, that Annapolis was spared.

One of those men was Zastrow Simms.

The world was different then. There were only three major broadcasting networks in the country - no cable, no internet, no instant messaging - but news of the assassination of Rev. King spread like wildfire to cites and small towns everywhere.

Within hours of the shooting, anger, frustration and despair poured out onto the streets. People began gathering on sidewalks and at street corners. The anger spread and mob mentality began taking over.

In Baltimore, Joseph "Zastrow" Simms was in a jail cell on a burglary charge, listening to the talk ricocheting off the prison walls.

There were rumors of looting and rioting in cities like Memphis, New York and rumblings of trouble brewing in Baltimore. He wondered what would happen to his hometown of Annapolis.

At City Hall, Annapolis Mayor and Zastrow's boyhood friend, Roger "Pip" Moyer, was worried. He cared deeply about the African-American community, and was well aware of the vulnerability of the town.

Even though their lives had taken dramatically different paths, Moyer had never lost faith in his old friend and he reached out to Zastrow for counsel. "Pip contacted me" (at the prison), Zastrow says, and I told him the guys he had to go to in the city - people like Joel King, Elton Snowden and Roland Brown."

Just nine months prior, in July of 1967, Cambridge in Dorchester County had experienced devastating riots that remained fresh in the minds of Annapolis citizens.

With reports of Baltimore and Washington experiencing trouble, it was clear that Annapolis could be next.

Moyer arranged for Simms to be let out of prison. The two of them, along with many of the city's black leaders began walking the streets of the old Fourth Ward.

For days and nights without end, they walked through Clay, Calvert, Northwest and West streets, talking to people, trying to talk them out of what Simms calls "foolishness."

"Out in the streets," Zastrow says, "they had burning on their mind."

H. Rap Brown, minister of justice of the Black Panther Party, was famous for saying, "If American don't come around, burn it down." Now, many angry people were listening to him.

Brown had come to Baltimore where more than 1,000 fires were set, along with rioting and looting that left seven people dead, 700 injured and millions of dollars in property damage. He was the instigator in the earlier Cambridge riots.

When the Black Panthers arrived in Annapolis, they found a community determined to find its own way of dealing with the aftermath of Rev. King's assassination. "They (the African-American community) respected Pip because they knew of his genuine concern for them and even though I had been in jail, they knew Zastrow and they listened," Simms says. "We told them, look around, this is what your parents worked hard to build. You're going to burn it? Then what are you going to do?"

A stage was set up on Obery Court where the band The Van Dykes played for hours on end. "It was more like a street party then a riot," Simms says. "And it worked." People gathered, talking to their neighbors, discussing what needed to be done. There was an open meeting at City Hall, where anyone could step up to the mike and express their concerns.

Morris Blum, owner of WANN, invited members of the community to come down to the radio station and voice their opinions on air.

Moyer and Simms confronted the Black Panthers, one of whom called Simms an Uncle Tom. "I hit him," Simms recalls. "It could have set me back, because it was a violation of my probation, but fortunately, people realized the situation." The Panthers had guns and their incendiary rhetoric, but it didn't work, and eventually they packed up and headed to the Eastern Shore. "God was with us," Simms says. We were hoping people would live up to the dream and they did."

Zastrow went on to turn his life around and has been an impassioned advocate for the town he helped save. He served as the first director of the Stanton Community Center, has run for City Council and is still an active voice in the city. While he concedes that a lot has changed, he is clearly concerned about all the work still to be done.

"We saved Clay Street and West Street," he says, "but that's what gets to me. You look at West Street, and you see what can be done. But what's happened to Clay Street ... who cares now?"

Inspired by Rev. King, Zastrow Simms has a dream. Actually, many dreams. "My dream is that Clay Street will one day be like it was (when it was the old Fourth Ward). That the black community will realize and live up to its importance. That the county executive, the mayor, the governor will all work together to rid the community of drugs."

He likes to say his dreams "flow from the prodigious hills of Clay Street to the mountaintop of State Circle." Which is to say, he has a dream that includes the entire community, black and white, working together, not only the government sectors but the schools, colleges, churches and business community.

He is quick to note the good work that is being done and those doing it. "There are many people and organizations really helping the community," he said, and he names them: Carl Snowden. "My dream is seeing him speak at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta," he said; James Turner, facilities manager at the Stanton Community Center; Chet Gladchuk, director of athletics at the Naval Academy; Ted Levitt of Chick & Ruth's Delly; Barbara Hale and Cathy Wysong; activist Robert Eades, and organizations such as the Nomads, the New Breeds, the Links, the Q's (African-American clubs); as well as area churches, St. John's College, the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront and Loew's Annapolis hotels and many, many more.

That the list includes so many from so many diverse areas of the Annapolis community, speaks to the heart of his dream. "Together we can overcome any obstacle," he said.

The last dream he has contains wishes for his old friend Roger "Pip" Moyer. "I'd like to see him receive the recognition he deserves." That day may come soon, for both Moyer and Simms are the subject of a documentary about their extraordinary friendship. "Pip and Zastrow," a film by Victoria Bruce and Karin Hayes will be out some time this spring.

One of Zastrow's dreams is for the film and the two filmmakers to attain national recognition.

But that, is another story.

Janice Gary is an award-winning writer of creative nonfiction. She teaches memoir at Annapolis Senior Center.

Do you have an Annapolis story? Contact jangary22@hotmail.com.