By: Chuck Paggett
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Adrian Black, 65, sits at his corner as cars pass by. Black is disabled and lost his social security benefits nearly a year ago - he's been coming out to this corner for about 7 months. |
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The Walmart sign across from Black's setup. Black said he typically comes out to this spot around 7:30 a.m. and stays until around 5 or 6 p.m. |
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The stoplight turns red at the corner Black frequents. "I know one thing, I'm getting sick and tired of sitting up here - 10 to 12 hours a day man, you know. Sometimes it ain't worth it man, I have set up here for 10 hours - like the other day all I got was $37." |
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Adrian Black takes a sip of water. "When I get here at 7:30, this whole area is sun. The shade don't get here til bout 12:30 or 1 o'clock - that's why you see how my face is red, that's from being out in the sun." |
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The light turns red at Brannen Street. Across from Black's corner spot is a Nissan car dealership. The traffic here is essentially nonstop at the light and is an ideal setup for Black to greet prospective Good Samaritans. |
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Adrian Black sits under the shade with his cooler and sign. "I tell you what though, as far as money and help out here - black people help me more than anybody else. That's the truth, they do man. They've blessed me many, very many times." |
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The gas station serving customers behind Adrian Black's corner spot. Black says he goes by "Bo" and always wanted to have his own lawncare business. He interviewed with a female Georgia Southern student before for about 2 hours and was brought back a drawing of himself with a truck and sign reading "Bo's Lawncare" - it meant a lot to him and still does to this day. |
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The shade tree that Black sits under everyday for hours. "She did come back twice and like I said she brought me that picture and I gotta get it framed. I brought it with me everyday for awhile 'cause I wanted to just show her how much I appreciate it. That shit was so cool man, it almost made me cry man when she handed me that thing." |
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Adrian Black gulps down water under the shade tree. Just an hour or so before, Bo recalls a group of guys in a car who waited until they drove past him then yelled out curses at him telling him to get a job. "We gotta live in this world, let's try to get along," Black said. |
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A car pumps gas behind the spot Black has made his own. Adrian Black a.k.a Bo is originally from Savannah, Georgia but he's lived in Statesboro for decades now. He says he also lived in Atlanta from ages 14 to 20, but acknowledged he prefers the slower pace of south Georgia compared to the hustle and bustle of city life. |
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Black stands as he looks off in the distance. Bo suffers from arthritis in his hands and knees which prevent him from working how he wants to. He says he's tried to find jobs - even Walmart where he's posted at - but no luck in hiring given his condition. |
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Bo's shade tree sits at the corner of Brannen Street and the entrance to Walmart Supercenter. The manager of Murphy USA has known Bo for years and has developed a working relationship with the disabled senior to allow him to sit here although it's technically private property. |
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The Walmart Supercenter entrance sign in Black's line of sight. Bo says he isn't homeless, but he's close to being so. After losing his disability checks, he struggles to pay rent but he has a few people who try to help support his situation. |
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Adrian Black drinks water to cool off from the summer heat. "Sometimes when you sit out here, you put yourself on display. I still ain't no damn target though man, you know, and it still don't give people a right to talk to you any kind of way and, you know, disrespect you - but they do and I'm tired of it man." |
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Black sits patiently under the sweltering sun. Bo says he was sent a letter in the mail for an appointment to reevaluate his social security disability, but never actually receieved the letter. "By doing that - I lost my car, lost my apartment - thank God where I moved out you're allowed to have two people to an apartment and the woman said no honey I can't see you in the street. She said you can move in with me, but I still gotta pay half the rent ... but I would've been out on the street." |
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Black stands up as cars prepare to turn behind him. Bo has a number of tattoos on his arm from his younger days, but he's not a big fan of them now. "I got all them years ago on the chain gang man and I wish I'd have never done em. I mean if it was a good looking arm it would've been, but they used me as a damn guinea pig for practice. I was like a damn scratch pad." |
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A view of Brannen Street and the car wash behind Bo's shade tree. "The sun is wrinkling me up man, just killing me man." Black also struggles to pay for his blood pressure medicine after losing disability. |
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Black prepares to leave his corner spot for the day. One of Bo's neighbors swings by to pick him up most days around 6:30 p.m. She just got done mowing her own lawn so declines a picture, but speaks on how nice and sweet Bo is - she tries to help him out when she can. |
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A street view of Bo's shade tree in front of Murphy USA gas station. "I got some ibuprofen in here, I ain't out here on drugs - just people assume. It may be the case in a lot of cases - people sitting out here doing this and they're buying drugs with it - but it's not always the case." |
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Adrian Black sits with his cooler and bottle of water. The phone in this picture records what Bo says. He hopes to not have to come out here much longer and says he plans to get another lawyer to look at his disability case. As cars continually pass by, he's reminded of the bad apples who go out of their way to be rude not knowing his situation. "You know what I'll tell you something, and this is the truth, always remember - you can't fix stupid. You can't fix that, and some people stuck on it. And that's really not a nice word to call people, but some people really are ignorant. I don't bother a soul." |
