Photo credit: Tom Jenz
The Security Guard
On Center Street near 22nd, I stopped at the Family Dollar store and had a conversation with the security guard. His name was Keanti. For seven years, Keanti has worked security in retail stores and apartment buildings in the central city.
I asked Keanti for his most dangerous experience. He said he'd been shot twice and pepper sprayed four times. In one incident, he had gotten in the middle of a domestic violence quarrel, the abuser shot him twice, and then Keanti quickly took the abuser down with two shots of his own.
One current controversy is the question of whether we want police patrolling the schools. And how about police in retail stores and apartment buildings? Keanti is an advocate. “My job is to protect,” he said. I did his portrait, and he posed the way he wanted to.
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.
