It was the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day when Street Sense vendor, David, shared a poem he’d written entitled Commentary to A Black Man. The poem reached the President’s desk, and David proudly showed off President Obama’s response to him.
"What else would you want to tell people?"
She unwrapped a small danish covered in plastic. "Sugar won't kill you." She flashed another smile and took a bite.
"Just as long as you not smoking."
Dennis remembers moving up to D.C. from Ohio because it was his birthday. He had relatives in the city. He tells us he was married at the time too. "And when you're married, I believe it's for life - whatever happens between me walking down the aisle and me kicking the bucket doesn't matter."
Michael was a first responder when the Pentagon was hit. He shakes his head as he recalls having to make his peace with God in a matter of seconds. "I didn't know what I had gotten into - and now I've got tumors the size of a nickel." The walls of the Pentagon, he continues, had asbestos and he can't get treatment. His voice rises. "The banks pushed me out the door because I don't got no address. There's no check, no Social Security."
Is there something you'd like to share about your story?
"I won two gold medals at the Olympics for boxing. It was 77, no 76."
Wow, so you're totally famous! I could look you up on the internet, and I could find find out all about your team and matches?
"Yeah, look me up! Calvin Therry McRae. I was on the Georgetown basketball team in 1982. And I won medals doing triathlete stuff too.
Have you always lived in D.C.?
"Yeah, born and bred right here."
Maria didn't want to be photographed. Not at first. "I lost my teeth, and thats a downfall. I ain't pretty like I was." She has been on the streets since June, ever since her partner of 18 years told her it's his house, and put her outside with all her things. She teared up twice talking to me, both times about her partner. "I wouldn't have him out in the cold - he was homeless too. He works." Years ago she fell outside a McDonalds, carrying Big Macs in her arms. She lost a tooth, and the others fell out eventually - "I didn't take care of it, and it kept going."
I met Charlie at Union Station on a cold Sunday afternoon. He was holding up this sign that had to be turned over to complete his message. When asked exactly what his message meant, he explained that this country is too afraid of speaking the truth. He believes that we as a society have become too politically correct about words that we can and cannot say, but fall short in areas that are more important.
Lonnie was sitting next to a bus station, smart trip card in hand, but even though several buses came and went, he didn't seem interested in their destinations. I asked him if he would tell me about himself, and his first words were, "I'm disabled." Born and raised in the District, he had worked 35 years for the government, the Smithsonian, and even Ben's Chili Bowl, but had suffered several heart attacks, strokes, and seizures. During one of his surgeries, he lost the vision in his right eye. He had owned a house up close to U Street, but had lost it because of taxes.
I am going out into the streets of Washington D.C.! Growing up in Lisbon, Portugal, and being a part of my parents' work with immigrants, the homeless, and Roma people, I have always been aware of the marginalized and needy around me. Every day in the month of February, I will be posting a story of an individual experiencing homelessness.
It is impossible to completely know a person through one encounter, and a person's story takes a lifetime to share and understand. But I've always been drawn to the ability of photography to capture a moment, and the beauty of writing that seeks to preserve the moments that make up our lives.
