Brad Pitt once stated, "Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold."
I will soon be 68
His tent was in complete disarray, his clothing badly soiled and one shoe untied as he crawled to a stance to meet us. He happily greeted us as we walked into his lone campsite. One of the volunteers in our group asked, "Would you like some food?" He pleasantly said, "Sure" while another volunteer leaned down to tie his shoe...
Read MoreLet's play a game
"Let's play a game," he said to me. I smiled and said, "Okay." This man has a nickname of "Shorty, but his real name is Geoffrey.
He said, "Guess how to spell my name." I came back with, "Jeffery?" He said, "Nope, try again." I tried, "Jeffrie, Jeffory" and then I landed on it, "Geoffrey!" He said, "Yep, you got it." I said, "Just like the Toys R Us giraffe!" He laughed and said, "Most people don't know that, but you get bonus points" as he shook my hand.
Geoffrey recently got jumped outside of his homeless campsite a few nights before our visit. He got cut over his left eye in the attack. He is doing much better today.
Read MoreThank you God for the food
Today, I hit the woods next to a set of railroad tracks with an F-250 Ford Truck filled with food. The coolest thing I heard this afternoon: "Man, I just prayed for food a little while ago, you guys are an answer to my prayers." I then noticed this man quickly walked around to the front of my truck where he was out of view of the others in our group. He held his hands out stretched and thanked God.
In case you are wondering, the tattoos in the center of his chest are brand new, that is why they were so shiny. A guy at his campsite did them.
New York in the Rain
New York is such a fascinating place. Even at midnight in the rain, I still find it mesmerizing.
American screen writer Truman Capote famously stated, "New York is the only real city-city." Capote died at the young age of 59 in 1984.
Watching the carefree children
Sitting outside of a small village in Haiti this elderly woman watches the children play all around her. You can see the happiness in her eyes as if she were dreaming the times when she was carefree.
Read MoreChildren know no disparity
"If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." - Gandhi
Mom washing clothes
While I was walking through a village in Haiti, I noticed a group of women surrounded by buckets of well water. They were all sitting around washing their clothes as the children played in the background. It was like stepping back in time.
The moms were talking, laughing and carrying on. After a load of clothes were clean, they would make their way to the clothing line and hang them to dry. If only I knew what they were talking about.
I wonder if they are a fan of good ole’ Joyce Meyer who stated, “It's so important to realize that every time you get upset, it drains your emotional energy. Losing your cool makes you tired. Getting angry a lot messes with your health.” These moms looked happy!
Smiles of Haitian Children
I love the smiling faces of children in Haiti. Furthermore, some photos are just supposed to be in color.
“Never give up on hope. Most of the greatest achievements of humanity were accomplished by tired, discouraged people who never gave up on hope. Anything is possible...if you truly believe.” ― Timothy Pina, Hearts for Haiti
New York Indian
He was walking into the bowels of the city in New York headed towards a subway when I stopped him... I asked, "Excuse me, do you mind if I take your photo?"
Read MoreI am deep
“I live on the streets, I’m traveling the country,” he told me. He said he was originally from California and he writes poems. “I’m deep, I think deep, I’m in touch with my past lives,” he said with a smile. "I have been reincarnated three times, do you believe in that," he asked me?
Read MoreI write poems
She later told me that she sells The Contributor newspaper, asking if I would like one. “I also write poems,” she told me with a laugh. “What are your poems about,” I asked with interest? She told me one of her poems was about coffee, another she wrote for the local Domino’s Pizza man and it is about pizza.
Read MoreThe hotel he never left
One of the many faces I recently saw at the defunct four story hotel we visited last week. This is Jeffery, his last job ended several years ago when this hotel closed down. Jeffery was over maintenance... he never left. Read more below.
Read MoreStage IV Liver Disease
Pictured: Jeffery and Rocky hugging each other prior to her being transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center to receive care for her ailing liver. Jeffery said to all of us, “Take care of her, I love her and she is all I have.” Read more below...
Read MoreI came to Nashville to be a musician, I rap
He was standing in the shadows of a large canopy at a homeless campsite located near downtown Nashville when I asked him, “Are you homeless?” His clothes were nice and neat and ball cap looked brand new. His shoes were even clean. He told me, “Yes, I live here. I was born in Forest City, Arkansas
Read MoreStreet Photography: Subway Noise
In this day and age, everything is bad for you. That includes the New York City Subway. No, not air pollution and not the folks rubbing up against you… Not even the man who decides to sit next to you while wearing his birthday suit.
Read MoreI came to Memphis to care for my mother
“Memphis is too violent for me to stay, I’m not used to that,” he said. “Not only is it violent, they are behind the times,” he said with a smile. As he talked he continued to smile and talk about how he loved to be moving, he loved activity. “In California I worked as a trainer at Golds Gym, I also worked at World Gym.”
Read MoreI was on the USS Kitty Hawk
I saw him walking down a highway on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee picking up cans and then throwing them into a wire shopping cart that he was slowly pushing. When I stopped to speak with him, I realized I was talking to someone who served our country in the US Navy...
Read MoreHe clearly remembers the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed
“People were f**ckin up Memphis and I didn't want to be in the middle of that. I just stayed in bed and didn’t go to school the day after King was killed. A teenager was even shot by Memphis Police.”
Read MoreU. S. Air Force Veteran
Meet United States Air Force Veteran Horace Renfro. Horace, who lives in a homeless shelter in Memphis, Tennessee, has trouble speaking. He was able to state, “I had an accident that left me unable to say what I am trying to say.”
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