Images from Puerto Rico

Elaine

Elaine, originally uploaded by Rigglord.

It haunts me these conversations about the past. Filled with joy in finding folks that you thought you will never see again. Then to listen in growing sadness as you hear about the those whose voices you will never hear again. By design or choice the stories continue to find their way to me.

On Fox Street in 1983. ( Ricky Flores )
Daily News article on Elaine;

Friday, April 23th 2004, 7:00AM

"Mommy's not here. She's dead."

Those horrifying words came from the mouth of 4-year-old Dante Sealey, who woke up in his Brooklyn apartment yesterday to find his mother slain in the kitchen.

The little boy and his baby sister, Diamond, 3, stayed with their mother's corpse for hours before someone tipped cops that her body was inside just after noon, police sources said.

When detectives arrived, the shocked toddler answered the door and muttered the awful news.

"Those poor kids were in the house for hours with their mother lying in there dead," one investigator said.

Police believe the mom, Elaine Sealey, 41, was strangled sometime after she fed her children dinner Wednesday night.

The medical examiner was expected to determine the cause of death.

Neighbors said Sealey was a drug addict who often let crack addicts use her apartment on McDonough St. in Ocean Hill to get high.

"There was an awful lot of traffic in and out of there all the time. I complained about it to the management," said Pamela Cook, 40, who has lived in the building for 10 years.

"She always took real good care of those kids, though. She definitely loved those kids," Cook said. "She was just a person with problems. Every human being has problems."

UFO Sightings

The Long Silence

The Long Silence, originally uploaded by Rigglord.

There are days that I feel that I am watching people who are at the controls of a train that is on a collision course and who are vaguely looking for the breaks and wondering if they plan to pull them if they find it. 2/24/09

Millie then and Now

Millie then and Now, originally uploaded by Rigglord.

I think about why I started uploading photos to Flickr and wondering who would see them and how they would respond to them. As more and more people began to comment on them I have come to realize that the work is taking on a whole life on its own. People who I thought I would never see again are hearing about it by word of mouth. Through them I am finding out the fate of people from the block. The news makes me happy but in some cases the endings are tragic and leaves me with a lingering sadness.

Mom

Mom, originally uploaded by Rigglord.

You had a long and difficult life, I hope that you have found peace.

Hip Hop Culture in the 1980's