Behind These Walls: Goodnight

This was a chance to feel the breeze on her face at the end of the day. A porch lit with the burnt yellow of dim street lamps, quiet on this end, at this time of night; peaceful and nearly empty, with only a few cars rumbling down nearby streets.

There is the slowing of breath, the baby being lulled to sleep by the cooler air and the quiet resonance of Portia Hyman’s humming, which is just barely audible. “I’m tired,” she says. “It’s the end of a long day, like the end of every day. In this moment, I’m thanking God for blessing this little boy. I know it’s time for him to get ready for bed. It’s time for me to get myself situated for the next day.

The moment is quiet and slow, compared with the chaos that normally reigns in a house filled with seven kids. “I take this time,” she says. “For him and for me. I hold him, I hum to him. He likes that.”

Text and image by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Home Ownership

On Saturday mornings when many kids in the neighborhood are still in bed, Portia Hyman asks of her children the same thing her grandmother asked of her when she was young. Once a week, the family makes an effort to clean up their front yard, and the street beyond it. It is a simple act of pride, and of tradition.

“The neighbors call me old fashioned, but this is how I was raised in this house and this is how I will raise my kids here,” says Portia, who inherited the home from her grandmother. Like most Americans, her home is her most valuable asset.

The downturn in the housing market eroded household wealth among all groups, but Hispanic and black households were especially affected, according to the Pew Center. The decline of home equity-- the largest single contributer to the total net worth of all groups-- hit blacks and Hispanics hard because of the proportion of their net worth the value of their home represents.

In a financial sense, this house is their greatest asset, but it also holds the history of this family; rooted in Park Place and working to care for their corner of the neighborhood, keeping it up for the next generation.

Text and image by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Hall of Fame

The mood is relentlessly upbeat at James Monroe Elementary in the Park Place neighborhood of Norfolk as parents and their children trickle in the front front door for a PTA meeting. The cafeteria is bright and decorated, and teachers have organized work stations on tables throughout the room, to give parents hands-on tutorials about the subjects their children will be learning, and the best strategies for helping them with schoolwork.

For a school that consistently underperforms, based on district and statewide rankings, there is still a good deal of pride and hope of possibility here. It will take more than curricular changes to raise the students to meet or exceed state standards and parents, like those who voluntarily attend these meetings, know this.

An “Academic Achievers Hall of Fame” covers a wall to the right of the front door, and Portia and her daughters Khairrah Hyman and Kenesha Fairfax scroll through the lists to find the names of the siblings. Sure enough, they find their brother Daytwan Johnson on the list for achievement in 1st grade writing and point to his name. They are all proud, but not surprised, coming from a household with strict expectations. Portia hopes  that her children will defy the dismal statistics that are used to characterize many of their peers.

Text and images by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Waiting

The nurse wipes the cold gel from Kenesha Fairfax’s belly and delivers the good news: the heartbeat is strong. The mother is healthy. All that’s left to do is schedule another appointment. The doctor’s visits are more frequent now that the due date is fast approaching.

She’s visited the hospital, toured the delivery rooms and the nursery, and made arrangements for a ride when it’s finally time, most likely in late February. When Kenesha brings her baby girl home, she will be the fifth generation of African American women to live in their house in Park Place.

Kenesha knows what a baby needs by watching her mom and helping out with her siblings as they grew up. The one worry that looms largest in this expectant mother’s mind is how she’ll get through labor and delivery. Even with stories from her mother and grandmother, the reality of the experience is unfathomable.

“At first, I thought I’d try it without the drugs,” she says, “but I had some contractions last week and now I know what that feels like. I’m not going to take the chance that I’ll be in too much pain. I’m scared. ” Her shoulders shrug, as if to shake off the stress of anticipation. “I’m excited.”

Photo and text by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: School

The door flies open and the cold air rushes in with the children, bundled against the first December chill. Backpacks are put away, snacks found in the kitchen, and then one by one they gather around the dining room table, jostling for seats in the afternoon ritual of homework. They won’t be allowed to leave the house until it’s all done.

“School is first in this house, and they all know it,” says Portia Hyman, who herself graduated from high school as a young mother and went on to get her associate’s degree at NSU. “The expectation in this house is to finish high school and go to college, so my kids won’t have to depend on anyone.”

Though proud of her academic achievements, there were still dreams deferred for Portia when the demands of raising a young family on her own became her focus. “I wanted to be a doctor, but I didn’t make it that far, and that’s why I’m strict with my kids. I tell them, don’t be like me, be better than me.”

Text and images by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: First Christmas

As the kids finish their homework at the dining room table, Portia Hyman sneaks presents from the car into her room on the ground floor of their Park Place home. Careful that no one sees the gifts they’ll receive, Portia hides the packages away from the prying eyes of her children.

Christmas at this house will look the same as many houses in Norfolk; the tree in the entry way, the wrapped presents and the stockings placed out the night before, and the the comfort food on the stovetop in the kitchen. The presents, though, are cobbled together from the Joy Fund and smaller stocking stuffers gathered throughout the month. The kids will never know the difference.

Dion and Day-Day Johnson will be the first to wake, though opening the presents will have to wait until the entire family makes it downstairs. After the chaos of ripping wrapping paper is finished, the young kids will spend the day playing with their new toys as the older ones help clean the house and prepare for their Christmas dinner. And it will be a special day for Daquan Collins, who will celebrate his first Christmas with his new family.

Photo and text by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Advice

If he doesn’t treat you with respect, and if he won’t be a father to his child he has no place in your life. The love you may have for him doesn’t matter until he steps up and takes responsibility for himself. The advice is hard to hear for Kenesha Fairfax, 19, but coming from a mother and a grandmother, there is no escaping it. “We’ve been where you are before,” says her mother Portia Hyman, “and we’re speaking to you this way out of love.”

Four generations of women have lived in this house in Park Place, and soon they will welcome a fifth generation; Kenesha’s baby girl is expected in February. A graduate of Granby High school, she hopes to attend TCC in 2012. Kenesha will count on help from her mother and grandmother, who will continue to impart life lessons like this one: sometimes, despite how badly you may want something, it’s better to let it go.

Photo and text by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Home

Racing up to the second floor for some forgotten football equipment, the sound of Day-Day’s feet echo through the stairwell. He and his siblings are the fourth generation of their family to live in this house in the Park Place neighborhood, to race up and down these stairs. His mother Portia inherited this house from her grandmother, who lived there with her husband of 64 years  before he passed away and she was forced to move because the rising costs of maintaining the sprawling home were out of reach for the older woman.

For Portia, homeownership represents stability for her family that was tenuous before they moved.

“This is a big house when you look at it,” says Portia. “ Those steps will wear you down. It was a blessing to move back here. I know my grandparents would want this house to carry on, with family in it. The first day we moved in, it was a wonderful thing. I was happy, I was excited. It meant a lot to me. We’ve come a long way, to be living in this house as a family.”

Photo and text by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Big Brother

The baby is happy on his back on the bed, with a stream of people ebbing in and out of the room, picking him up, kissing his nose, and lightly squeezing his little stockinged feet between their fingers. In a big family like this one, Daquan is passed from the arms of one sibling to another, each taking on the role of caregiver without complaint. When not with Portia Hyman, he can be found on the porch with his grandmother or up in the girls’ bedroom.

Dion Johnson, 9, steals a moment alone in his mother’s room with his elbows on the bed, his face cradled in his hands. He seems mesmerized by the face of his littlest brother.

“Dion even tries to make Daquan’s bottle,” says Portia. “He’s such a little man.” That children even as young as Dion would take part in raising their younger siblings is commonplace in this large family. “The older ones are always looking out for the younger ones. They help raise their brothers and sisters. We help one another out.”

Photos and text by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot

Behind These Walls: Corner Store

It’s a regular pilgrimage for many kids in Park Place: the afternoon trip to the corner store for a bag of chips, a candy bar, a soda. Portia Hyman remembers her childhood visits to Park Food Store on Colonial Avenue in the Park Place neighborhood in Norfolk. “I was raised going there and now my kids get to do the same thing,” says Portia.

“It’s a safe place,” says Portia. “We feel comfortable letting our kids go there and back. The owner is a generous, down-to earth guy, and you know he’s watching out for all the kids, making sure they come right home. I remember going back and forth between the Boys and Girls Club and Park Food Store in the summers and after school. Potato logs: that’s what I would always get.”

For Portia, a trip to the corner store that she frequented as a kid is a tradition she shares with her children. “You always get a treat if it’s your birthday,” she says. “And that’s what happens in a neighborhood like this one. Some people really get to know you and they’ll look out for your kids when they’re out of the house.”

Photos and text by Amanda Lucier | The Virginian-Pilot