The Short Stop food and convenience mart, also known as Foxwell’s, is a busy neighborhood hub where Washington Street meets Greenwood Avenue in Cambridge. Countless kids on bikes make their way there daily, and folks on foot take the well- worn path across the grassy lot. There’s a seemingly constant coming and going in and out of the parking spaces out front, with a steady stream of greetings to friends and family ringing out.
But this summer there was an uptick in the usual hustle and bustle, one that few were expecting, but many have welcomed. Beside the blank walls on either side of the building, paint cans, brushes, and scaffolding began to appear. Several weeks apart, two local artists began an al fresco endeavor to transform plain cinder block into eye catching street frescos.
Frank Azam, owner of Short Stop (Foxwell’s), who has been in the community for over 25 years, explained his reason behind bringing the barren walls to vivid life.
“Foxwell’s is a place of meet and greet for many. The inspirational message we are trying to give is if, if a young kid from Cambridge, who walk the same paths every day with Believing in themselves, they can become like Mr. Emory Jones. Many others can see it on the wall of Foxwell’s to remind them every day about Believing in themselves, saying to themselves I CAN DO IT, just like Mr. Jones did it,” he stated. “Seeing such a positive message in our community can help many young kids to grow up to be an inspiration, like Mr. Jones,” Azam added.
Jones is the Head of Lifestyle at Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s mega successful entertainment agency, and also co-founder of the company’s iconic streetwear legacy fashion line, Paper Planes. In a HuffPost article from 2017, Jones explained that the Paper Plane represents much more than a materialistic status symbol. Instead, it instructs people of all ages to imagine, dream, be persistent, and get in the right frame of mind in order to physically achieve their ultimate destination, whatever that may be. Jones also coined the fashion logo phrase “Bet On Yourself,” drawing on his and Jay-Z’s respective childhood communities, where “everyone bets on all the wrong things instead of betting on themselves.” A special Puma collection also featured Jones’ Groove City apparel. (Jones has donated funding to the Cambridge Empowerment Center as part of his own belief in remembering his roots and giving back.}
Such messages of transcending situations and surroundings with manifested self-belief resonated strongly with Bobbie Jo-Elle Ennels and Miriam Moran. Both are self-taught artists with no formal training, whose young lives have helped inspire and inform their craft.
Ennels, creator of the “Believe” wall and Miriam Moran, who designed “A Kid From Cambridge,” feel it’s a privilege to be able to share their hopeful visions with the surrounding community, especially youngsters.
Ennels lived on the nearby street which became Gloria Richardson Circle while growing up. While struggling with challenges throughout her early years and teens, she found solace and support through crafts and music. When her son Alyx was born 3 ½ years ago, she turned to art as a therapeutic outlet while navigating single motherhood.
On a whim, Ennels decided to try painting portraits from photographs. Beyond being personally rewarding, her realistic portraiture work began generating praise and paying commissions.
As the pandemic proceeded and Ennels’ “day” job ended, she became determined to take a chance and pursue her dream of working as an artist. Little did she imagine the outsized opportunity that would emerge—creating her first street mural, gracing space in the neighborhood she knew well.
“I grew up walking this path to the Short Stop, and my grandfather working down the street, at Housing Authority headquarters,” Ennels recalled.
Among three designs submitted to Azam, her 3-D chromatic aberration of the word Believe was the decisive winner. Ennels’ next step was a digital rendering to fully display the array of shades. “By using all these colors, I wanted to create something which would reach all ages, genders, and races. Everybody seeing it could find their favorite color there,” Ennels noted.
Excited by the project, she woke Alyx at sunrise every morning and brought him with her to the project site. Her mom and cousin came out to paint, as did Jeannie Elliot, whose 26- year-old son Roderick Russ murdered in October 2020. So, too, did Cambridge Commission President Lajan Cephas. Marco Antonio Garcia of DORiS Media came out the first day to help tape up the exterior, Ennels recalled. Charles Scrimshaw, a chef at the Robert Morris Inn, brought paintbrushes and pitched in with paint strokes. To the many kids who asked if they could help, Ennels always answered ‘okay’, feeling like their contributions would create a sense of integrity, pride, and ownership.
She’s excited to already be working on designs for additional street murals appearing within Cambridge. But mostly, she feels fortunate to be able to inspire others in such a powerful way to overcome obstacles in their own lives, with too many problems and not enough talent or resources. “People here know me, they know where I’ve been in my life,” Ennels added. “This shows them that they can do it too, if they believe they can.”
Shortly after Believe was completed, Artist Miriam Moran, designer of the groundbreaking Black Lives Matter mural on Race Street, began bringing to life her vision for A Kid From Cambridge. Building on Jones’ inspiring journey from small town Cambridge to an executive office in a downtown Manhattan sky-scraper, the images convey the connection between surmounting today’s surroundings and believing in one’s own abilities to reach for tomorrow’s sky high possibilities.
On her Facebook page, Moran describes herself in these words: “GOD GIFTED! Self-taught Taino, Visual Creator. Paint for a Purpose. “ THE COMMUNITY ART VOICE” (Taino refers to the part of her heritage rooted in the indigenous Puerto Rican community.)
With six children of her own ranging in ages from 2 to 15, Moran is also inspired by the youngsters she works with at the recently opened Boys and Girls Club of Cambridge at Leonards Lane. The Club is located just down the street from yet another inspirational street mural at Mount Moriah New Life Ministries at 1024 Cosby Avenue featuring a portrait of Coretta Scott King and her quote: “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” (The mural was partially funded by Cambridge Commission President Cephas, Dorchester Center for the Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council.)
She’s contributed a commissioned wall mural in memory of a victim of gun violence, and will be painting faces for the free Unity Festival on the Pine Street community on July 31.
Working alongside her at the “Kid in Cambridge” mural each afternoon following her BGC day is husband Emmanuel Batson, delighted to join yet another of Moran’s many efforts, including Black Lives Matter as well as another memorial tribute at Dorchester County Public Library’s “Cora’s Corner” in the Children’s Section. “By working together, we model how we empower and support each other,” Moran stated.
Like Ennels, Moran has always been strongly influenced by the power of art and music in her own life. Artist Frieda Kahlo, who surmounted physical disability, and singer/songwriter Selena Quintanilla, who celebrated her unique individual style, are among her heroes. But her late grandfather, Horiberto Moran, she considers her creative angel above, for exposing her to beauty and teaching her to live life to the fullest, she noted.
Both her father and grandfather were artistic. While she aspired to follow them as a youngster, her own creative journey started in earnest following a car accident which left her severely injured and her young daughter, Miracle, paralyzed. Art became her personal therapeutic pathway to heal physically and spiritually, in sometimes surprising ways. Moran began creating stunning portraits using salt as her only medium. She also took up portrait painting, sometimes in unconventional ways. A tribute she created to honor Gloria Richardson which was displayed at the Liv Again Gallery on High Street several years ago drew Richardson herself, and foreshadowed the impact her work would bring. Moran remembered “just being in awe, unable to believe that SHE wanted to meet Me!”
She feels honored to and hopes to use her skills to help mentor youth in the community, who are having to deal with the ongoing trauma of gun violence, and other issues. And while she feels blessed to commemorate inspirational historical figures, Moran also hopes to provide outreach via contemporaries recognized by today’s kids. The mural, with the young boy and girl at one end, and Emory Jones and Jay Z at the other end, she feels, fulfills this mission. “Emory Jones was, after all, another kid from Cambridge, just like them,” she added.
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Debra Messick is a retired Dorchester County Public Library associate and lifelong freelance writer. A transplanted native Philadelphian, she has enjoyed residing in Cambridge MD since 1995.
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