“Buried in the asphalt are the dreams of our fathers and hopes of our mothers. Beneath the clatter of traffic and the bustle of commerce spring the philosophies of panhandlers and fables from the wise. From the pavement, we hear the chants of protest, songs of resilience, and the echoes of our ancestors linked arm in arm. Voices from the pavement, trace like diary entries. Our cracked pavements drizzled with tar read like musical notes from a quill pen. Like the movement of a clarinet over a walking bass line.

Yet our shared streets remain divided along the double-yellow lines of power and privilege. And while our feet share in a connection greater than us all, we are captive to Earth’s gravity, pulling us ever downward. We share in the universal quest for safety, shelter, belonging, and community. We spring from the ground. We rise. “Up from the Asphalt. Out of the ground.”

-Marvin Espy, June 4, 2024