Shaw, DC, has long been a cultural intersection. Emerging after the Civil War as a vibrant center of Black intellectual, social, and commercial life, then weathering periods of hardship before re-entering a renaissance of growth and energy. Amid its evolving landscape, a few constants remain, people like Ike, a loyal and familiar presence who has faced life’s challenges with resilience. Every day, he greets neighbors as a crossing guard while carrying the memories and spirit of the community he’s called home for decades. Just down the street, Wanda Henderson continues to shape the neighborhood’s future. A lifelong resident and entrepreneur, she opened Wanda’s on 7th in 2003 and has since become a trusted pillar in the community, offering not just hair care but strength and compassion to all who walk through her doors. Together, Ike and Wanda reflect the enduring spirit of Shaw.

One thing I’d like to leave you with is something Ike shared during our time together — a detail that gives his portrait a deeper meaning.

Ike grew up on the same street where we met and made his portrait. As we talked, he pointed down the block to a house and said, “That was my grandmother’s house.” She was known as the Mayor of the neighborhood.

As we kept walking, he began sharing stories from his childhood. Then he stopped and pointed to some faded writing near the house number. He told me, “In 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and the rioting started. In order for black businesses, homes, and properties not to be destroyed, you had to paint ‘Soul Brother’ or ‘Soul Sister’. So that has been on there since April 1968. The house caught fire twice, but that has never come off.”