Moments of Peace

On the day of this photograph, Tony had been homeless for several days.


Tony is originally from Orlando, FL; he attended Jackson Sr. High School in Miami, where he ran track and played running back in football. He was in the National Guard, stationed in Kentucky. He has three adult children, 30, 29, & 28. He has a son, who is a truck driver, and two daughters. One is studying law at Florida A&M, and the other is in med school at the University of Miami. Tony's wife died of AIDS several years ago.

He was living with his brother, who kicked him out of his home because Tony would not share his food stamps with him. He had just returned from Atlanta to attend his father's funeral when this occurred. He said that although he's now homeless, "It's better than when I was living with my brother. He drinks too much and his girlfriend is a prostitute. She would turn tricks in the house. I didn't want to be around that. So, now I'm out here."

His plan is to go to the Salvation Army to seek help, "and once I get back on my feet, I going to move with some family up in Atlanta."

In the meantime, he will spend the late afternoons in Bayfront Park. "I like to come here when it cools off to watch the boats and look at the water. It's very relaxing. It's nice."

The Eyes of a Generation

A native North Carolinian, Lowery has lived in Miami for 35 years. He is an importer/exporter of goods such as grains, wheat, and beans and sells items like toilette paper and pineapples from a vacant gas station lot. He has three adult children with careers as an accountant, a corporate attorney, and an auditor. He graduated from the University of Western Missouri with a degree in Political Science. He also went to law school but did not finish, and if not for all that he wishes to accomplish, he would have long since returned.

Lowery has much to say about the communities, wealth, poverty, and education in Miami. "I have a lot of ideas about how to stimulate the economic growth in the poor communities and how to create jobs. I have an idea for a [clean energy] toilette paper factory in Liberty City that would provide jobs for hundreds." Unfortunately, "You have to have money in order to be listened to in Miami and because of that, the city's not about to listen to me." He added, "Oh, they hold their council meetings and play the part," but in the end, he sees no progress. "People in Miami are concerned with where their house is, or what model Bentley they drive, or how big their boat is, so it's no wonder so many neighborhoods in Miami suffer from poverty - the city just doesn't care…Miami's never gonna change." Yet he tries to make a difference every day.

"The reason I'm saying all this to you is so you can pass this message along and do something to try to make a change, too. You're a member of a younger generation, so you have to lead by example, because the eyes of the younger generations are on you - your generation - on all of us."

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Guadalupe de vacaciones

In a mauve-colored building, whose paint was peeling back to the wood frame, I saw Guadalupe leaning against the doorway of her apartment, in a vibrant fuchsia, flower-patterned dress. Through the open doorway, I caught a glimpse of a silver, 65 inch, wide screen television behind her.

Guadalupe fiddled with a white envelope in her hand, listening to the conversation of her neighbors, content in her silence. She speaks no English, but those around her, watching over her, share a bit about her with me. Guadalupe is from Honduras. She lives in this apartment six months a year, on vacation. She spends the hot season of Miami in the cooler weather of Honduras, for the other six months of the year.

Guadalupe has a son, and the apartment belongs to her daughter, who is not there. I chatted with a neighbor and the building manager, as Guadalupe stood silently in her doorway, a slight suggestion of a smile surfacing on her face from time to time. She continued to fiddle with the envelope in her hand, not knowing most of what we were saying, yet not seeming to care. She was content. She was on vacation.