Eric (aka The Deacon)

Eric is a man I used to work with in Detroit. We called him Deacon because he loved to preach. On the job he would always speak in aphorisms. "Eddie, you have to take life as it comes otherwise it will take you." Over the course of many long shifts he began to open up to me. He told me about his days as a drug dealer, he told me about his rehabilitation, and his current work as a pastor. He was building a house that used to be a crack den. Needles to say he was a man who fascinated me. I always tried to get put on his shift. I tried to finish my jobs quickly so I could tag along with him on his jobs. With Eric's permission I recorded one of our many conversations over lunch. On a separate occasion, instead of working, I filmed Eric working. I never knew what to do with this material before this class. My obsession with character and nonfiction story continues from my days as an undergraduate and documentary filmmaker. Thanks for reading/watching.

- Eddie

     “Sometimes um, I get upset and get closed in. Because it’s not always like I pictured it to be. But part of maturity is knowing somethings is just not going to be like I see it, and adjusting to things in my life without having to scratch it or say forget it or hang it up…To making some adjustments and finding peace in myself even though things go on and trials go on. And people look at me and they don’t think I went through nothin,’ and I went through a lot. Escaped death. When I was younger my parents used to lock us in a basement, in a room, for days.

     One of the things that I learned and I want to share this with you and please remember, that when people can’t teach, they rule: Shut up! But why? Shut up! I don’t... Shut up! That’s ruling, ‘cause you can’t teach me. And I grew up in a day when my parents didn’t know how to talk so all they knew was to rule. Shut up, sit down, be quite. But why? Explain to me, talk to me, teach me. But when you can’t teach you rule. And I realize now, they didn’t know any better. 

     As I got older I got friends, and God brought people around me who talked to me and mentored me and talked to me and showed me things that, whoa, you can over come somethings. But I didn’t have that when I was younger, and it’s just, it's just a blessing that people can say some positive things, and you can see a different perspective because sometimes our perspective gets so narrow that we just can’t see past that. One of the great joys of life is love and sometimes when we’re void of that love it takes away from life."