Curtis Harris was on the corner of Division and Liberty Street, hoping for some spare change and compassion. He stood in his paint-stained T-shirt and his baggy black sweatpants. Harris waved at friends across the street, still smiling through everything he’d been through. He showed unapologetic respect and friendship to everyone he passed, if only with a warm head nod.
Harris was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, along with five brothers and five sisters. His struggles began when both his mother and father passed away; grief and poverty drove him into addiction.
Harris has been living on the streets for more than 10 years, in and out of rehab and shelters. His battle with addiction is still a work in progress. He expressed guilt when talking about his journey; most of the people in his life are caught in the same trench as him, and being around those people reels him back into addiction and poverty.
“Ann Arbor is a nice place, but it’s really hard to deal with the people in Ann Arbor — drug fanatics,” Harris said. “I’m a Black man, and all my people I deal with are drug addicts, that made me do drugs.”
Since high school, Harris has been working through addiction, grief, poverty and illiteracy. He attended Jones Elementary as a kid during the years it was being shut down.
According to the Ann Arbor District Library, after the Brown Vs. Board of Education case in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation unconstitutional. At the time Harris attended Jones Elementary, which was 75.4% Black. Pressure from local Black residents urged for an assessment of the racial imbalance in Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS).
The Ann Arbor Board of Education appointed a 12-member Citizens’ Committee to evaluate AAPS. The Citizens’ Committee discovered that 44.8% of Black students attending Jones Elementary tested below the grade level. The committee also found that Black students attending integrated schools had tested with higher scores. After the disclosure of this information, Jones Elementary was shut down.
The closing of Jones Elementary led to Harris breaking the bonds he shared with other students in his community. It also caused him to completely disengage from school. Once Jones Elementary was revived into what is now Community High School. Harris went back to academics at the same time he began drinking alcohol. While he did return to school, he still couldn’t give the commitment needed to excel. He never ended up graduating and remains illiterate to this day.
“It limits me a whole lot,” Harris said. “That’s why I drink like I drink. If you was in my position — couldn’t read, homeless, like the world where everything’s against you. What would you do?”
Keeping a job has been hard for Harris. With challenges stacked up against him, he finds himself trapped. He challenges those he meets to try and see from his perspective — what it would be like to step in his shoes for once.
“See, when you can’t read or write, it takes a lot out of you,” Harris said. “Why you think I ain’t got no good job when everything is on laptops online?”
Harris started with drinking alcohol, but after building a tolerance, he resorted to harder and harder substances. Eventually, he lost the shelter home because of a relapse on crack cocaine. He thinks of addiction as an alternate persona, a loss of self-control.
“Shelter got me out, then the crackhead took it over,” Harris said. “That little white pebble is a powerful thing.”
Harris desires to live an honest and respectful life. There is guilt that comes when his addiction taints those values. He feels conflicted and stuck — a perpetual battle to stay afloat while maintaining his morals.
“Well, see, I try telling you the truth,” Harris said. “The truth is hard.”
Despite all that’s happened, he’s still grateful. Grateful for the churches, the students and the shelter workers who offer him support.
“I sleep outside the church and I eat breakfast at St. Andrew’s, and I’m grateful for everything y’all do for us,” Harris said.
Harris maintains his core values. His journey is far from over, but the challenges of life won’t stop him.
“Stay away from drugs,” Harris said. “Get with the right crowd; be honest, those drugs is a mother f*****.”
