Photo credit: Tom Jenz
Meeting Tina
People ask me what life is like for Milwaukee’s inner city African-Americans during the coronavirus crisis.
I recently drove through Center and North, up and down 27th and 35th, some of the most racially isolated sections. Almost everything was closed down, the streets partly deserted, alleys and vacant lots scattered with garbage and detritus. Looming out of the cold gray light, old churches and abandoned buildings stood lonely. A few corner grocery stores were hanging on with an Open sign. Traffic was light. Buses appeared now and then, riders scarce. The whole scene could have been in a movie about the apocalypse.
Yet I wanted to find someone to talk to. Finally, I saw one pedestrian on a main artery, a woman in a virus mask. I pulled my car to the curb and waved. She waved back and stopped. I grabbed my camera and hurried across the double lanes.
We kept our distance, but there seemed to be a feeling of cautious connection. Such is the mass fear we all seem to feel. Through her mask, she said her name was Tina and she had only been in Milwaukee for two months, having moved from Chicago and now living with a roommate. She acknowledged it was a bad time to move, but there was no going back. I took her portrait with a background that symbolized the neighborhood atmosphere. Clearly, virus fears and the sinking economy have driven a hole into this closed culture of inner-city African-Americans.
Central City Stories is a collection of visual narratives from Milwaukee's central city by writer and fine arts photographer Tom Jenz. You can see more of his work at TomJenzAmerica.com.
