“I never been a follower”
A lot has changed since Tony Tyra was a boy growing up fatherless in Milwaukee’s central city. But so has he.
All posts tagged: Fatherhood
“We live the same, but we live differently”
Deon Bell was a restless child, which initially led him to the streets. Since then, he’s been able to harness the life that lies inside him.
“We teach everything”
Mohamud Suleiman, who has braved the waves of inopportunity and is taking on the responsibilities of fatherhood, still believes his time will come.
“I want to go to Yale”
Novion Bailey, who grew up without much money or his father, has had to create his own goals and vision for his life.
“I mean, family’s all you got, right?”
While Matt Pizur’s early life was defined by a rocky relationship with his father, he’s been able to carve out his own sense of happiness.
“I’m more of a kid at heart”
Alejandro Narvaez has always bounced around — whether it’s where he’s lived, what he’s done or what’s been thrown his way — but, for him, change has always been a positive.
“I don’t feel like I had a strong foundation but I had a strong mind”
After spending his last four days in jail, Gavin Groce reflects on his past and where he wants to go from here.
“I was a farmboy”
After a hard childhood, and an episode that saw his farm taken, Phil Sorg has learned to let go and embrace the small pleasures of life.
“I changed”
Donald Ealy shuffles across an empty Center Street in Park West. Ealy’s tired eyes and thin mustache adorn his weathered face; a patterned cardigan and brown driving cap lend him an air of aged dignity. “When I went to prison, my eyes wasn’t open,” Ealy says. “I wrote the judge a letter thankin’ him for savin’ my life. I had 30 years. The judge brought me back to court because he said he had never got a letter like this before, and he said the letter was so sincere … he brought me back to court and took 15 years away.”
“I wanna own something”
Devin and Tamio (Tu-miyo) sit on the steps of a home near the corner of 24th and Burleigh, a cigarette in each of the young men’s hands. The two, who have known each other since early childhood, appear unusually comfortable, almost unaware of the other’s presence. “Trust is everything,” Tamio says. “Whatever relationship you have — business, personal … it’s always trust. You don’t trust nobody, shit, ain’t no point in us bein’ around each other.”