A positive voice in the chaos: Battling through adversity, member of UD research project trying to live a life in tune
by IRA PORTER • The News Journal • November 22, 2010
Earvin Griffin casts an imposing figure outside the Grand Opera House in downtown Wilmington. His thick, six-foot frame is dressed in a navy blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt, tan cargo shorts and a blue Washington Nationals baseball cap. His low-top Nike sneakers have straps instead of laces. Shortly after 11 a.m. his workday starts, and Griffin, 21, launches himself into the first of his two jobs. He walks to a truck with a vending cart attached and spends 15 to 20 minutes loading ice, sodas, packs of hot dogs and sausages into coolers. It’s midmorning. The streets are quiet. But blue- and white-collar workers, free for lunch, will soon enliven the sidewalks. As they stroll by Griffin, it’s clear from the banter that they know and appreciate him.
Before the lunch rush, Griffin takes time for breakfast, a $1.25 bowl of Frosted Flakes and half pint of milk. Everybody seems to know him. Well-dressed businessmen and businesswomen say hi. Others dressed more like him stop to give him a handshake and talk rap music. He flirts with as many women as he can. “When I come up here, we just zone out [and have a good time],” said Griffin, known by most as Swearv.
His body is decorated with eight tattoos, some of which feature his nickname, his mother’s nickname, the name of a cousin who died and a rest in peace shout-out to his Aunt Sugar, who died of lung cancer. That one reads, “Through all the struggle, the hassle, survive against all odds.” “I told myself that I would never smoke cigarettes,” he said, minutes before sticking a cigarette behind his left ear.
Griffin is part of a 15-member team of researchers chosen by the Wilmington Hope Commission and University of Delaware to participate in an 11-month project led by assistant professor Yasser Arafat Payne.
The project uses Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology, which has local workers conducting advanced-degree-level research on the streets of the East Side and Southbridge neighborhoods. Griffin and his colleagues were taught research methods, conducted field interviews, created and handed out an 18-page survey, contributed to journal articles and produced arts components, including a soundtrack, public service announcements and a memorial video for the city’s homicide victims.
Payne said 150 people applied for the jobs.
Excerpt from the Nov. 22 2010 edition of the NewsJournal. View the entire article.
Click Here for more on the series entitled MyNEIGHBORHood: A Love/Hate Relationship in Wilmington