#BirthPains: Anthony Crawford Adamick

Name: Anthony Crawford Adamick

Age: 34

Birth place: Boston, MA

Occupation: Photographer and Motivational Speaker

"My goal is to capture and tell an amazing story in images. Story telling is what drives me.  Whether it’s creating a photo project to shed light on a issue, a brand, shooting portraits, street and travel photography or just hanging out with friends and family. everyone has a story and I want to capture it. 

In a world of “snapshots” and uninteresting photos, please allow me to capture your story and leave you with images that make you feel their emotions and live on forever."

What do you say to man that has been practically been through so much but didn't break? An overcomer. And Anthony Crawford Adamick is just that, an overcomer. He has been through abandonment of his father before his birth, abuse from his step father, infidelity from his ex-wife, depression and more. But one thing that stayed consistent was being a father to his children, his father was never was for him. You truly don't know a person until you become adults. In that time I saw Anthony started doing photography. I saw his development and was extremely impressed on how he grew in his craft. Eventually I would ask him if he wanted to be featured on my blog and he more then agreed to be interviewed. But I didn't know what he was about to share. 

Let me first say, after our interview I was honored that he felt comfortable enough to share his story on this platform. So I will like to publicly say thank you and hope I do your story justice.

I was extremely depressed. I didn't have the motivation to do anything. On top of that I had found out that my wife had cheated on me and that the baby she was carrying wasn't mine. I left everything behind in Connecticut and moved back to Boston. Sleeping on my sisters couch and struggling with anxiety attacks. So I just randomly picked up an old camera and went on a journey on taking pictures. I needed to do something and started shooting pictures and my mind wasn't bothered by all that I was dealing with. Then someone told me that I wasn't good enough and suggested I give it up. But I didn't listen and eventually it is what you see today. It helps me to get out of my head. I love the power to be able to tell a story and discovered I can make income from my passion. This year I will be backpacking in July to Haiti to capture positive imagery of the people and it's land. No I'm not Haitian but I've always had a strong gravitation to the culture for some reason; and some of my friends are Haitian. I dislike the imagery and propaganda that they circulate about Haiti and I want to be part of changing that.

My childhood wasn't easy. My father abandoned me before I was born and my step father was abusive. So I never had a relationship with my father. Down the years I was later told I was molested by a teacher who ended up being locked up for his crime. I would have a difficult time in school because of it, I was told. I don't remember it maybe bc I was young or I just shut that memory out. Something I became a master at doing. Eventually as time went on I realized crying was a good outlet in dealing with a lot of things I was going through. So many men are shamed for crying but it's therapeutic. I let it out and then I am able to move on bc I have released that feeling.

Through my experience I define family as as supportive unit that come into your life to be positive influence. Someone who is willing to be supportive. It does not need to be defined by blood. It's people who have been there for you. It is a spiritual connection you have with the people who come in your life.

But in attempting to define fatherhood and even family is very difficult for becasue I trully never had that. So I am in a journey of self-awareness. It is very hard to just hug my son at times. I have to tell myself to hug my son becasue I never had that. So being a father is an ongoing process for me.

My life statrted changing once I had the understanding I wasn't less than. As a father there is pressure, especially when not having one in your own life; to not be like the ones who weren't in my life. And I had to realize I had to create peace within myself to be a good father. Being self-aware, knowing my flaws; realizing who I was and stop making excuses and realizing all that doesn't matter. Everything you go through doesn't dictate where you are or will be. You can be whoever you want to be. Once you start jumping into life but you must embrace fear. LEAP EVERYDAY. HAVE FAITH  AND THINGS WILL START OPENING FOR YOU. Your blessings will meet you at your level of courage. Your faith in yourself and God will open doors.

My goal is to be a motivational speaker and photography is the pipeline towards that. I want to help people change their perspective of themselves . Something I've done my whole life. I love inspiring others and that's what I'm doing now, everyday.

Anthony is a full time photographer focused on changing the narrative of the downtroddenthrough photo stories. Hi is currently teaching photography at Putnam middle school in Cambridge ma. He helps small businesses with their marketing and social media. Anthony's photography expertise is in corporate and commercial photography. He is scheduled to talk at a "today at Apple event". He has shot for brands like Microsoft and Pillpack. he is headed to Haiti next month to work on a personal photography project. Anthony's fine art pieces have been displayed and sold through different galleries in the city and is currently in a accelerated business program. You can see more of his work her in his website http://www.ovstills.com/ or his instagram at @ovstills.

#MIKADO: The Imperfect King

@likogamebred

Name: Malik Bomani

Age: 27

Born: Havana, Cuba

Place of residency: Miami, Fl

Occupation: Youth Mentor/ Care Coordinator

I spent a good chunk of my upbringing around my grandmother. She’s a savvy and headstrong island woman. She was always loving, supportive and tried her best to steer me in the right direction. I got most of the game from women. All the women in my family were go-getters and hustlers. So coming up, I was always crafty. I didn't always have a strong work ethic but I always found a way to get it. Just getting what we need by using what we have.

I met the mother of my children when I was 18 through a mutual friend. It was at a house party. She had this wild, untamed hair and she was always talking shit. I was really attracted to her. She got pregnant about 3 months after we met. She was 20, I was still 18. I was happy and scared. I felt unprepared. We were young, didn't have any money at the time. I ended up working some odd jobs. I felt like I didn't know the first thing about parenting, but I knew we were ready to do whatever we needed to do to provide a life for this baby.

@likogamebred

Some of the the most difficult aspects of becoming a parent is learning to forgive myself. I think as first time parents, we put so much pressure on ourselves to get everything right. Especially if you didn't come from a traditional household. We had to let go of the fear and just be consistent. We knew that as our baby was growing, we were growing with them too. I think we all have that natural intuitiveness that kicks in when we need to provide and protect the people and things we love. We just have to learn to trust that instinct. To me, parenting involves preparation but much of it is instintctus

When we were expecting our second child we were going through it. Financially, emotionally, spiritually. I'm not religious at all, but we knew that our second child had divine timing. It tested our bond. I felt like it made us stronger as a unit because we really had to kick everything into an extra gear.

Fatherhood changed me completely. I don't know where I would be without my children. I think it brought some things out of me that I didn't think were there. It's taught me to give of myself freely and completely without expecting anything in return. And that is the most liberating type of love to feel. It's always interesting watching them move. They are complete opposites. But they provide such a unique balance to our lives and we derive great pleasure from watching them develop their own identities and idiosyncrasies. I think by the time we had our second child, my son Elijah Kimathi, we were more comfortable and secure about our parenting styles. But both of them are very creative and vocal. As far as what they get from me, I think just that inquisitiveness. I try to instill the value of education in them and not just in the traditional sense. I let them know the world is their classroom and you can learn from everything and anybody. I encourage them to explore alternative narratives and see things from different perspectives. To form their own opinions and foster their own voices.

@likogamebred

My hopes for my children are I just want my children to be happy and free. I want them to be aggressive in their truths, and to live fearlessly and selflessly. My biggest fear is feeling like they can't come to me with something. They are whole, little beings. A world on to themselves.  So I try to talk with them, not to them. Coming from an immigrant family, there is sometimes that cultural gap there. Coming to a new country almost forces the children to be the parents when it comes to navigating certain things. So that keeps a lot of us from fostering the type of relationship we might have wanted with our folks. So I make it a point to always keep our lines of communication open and transparent.

I want brothers to know that just because the situation is not ideal, that doesn't mean you can't make ideal things happen. You are the sole controller of your universe. You can't always dictate what happens, but you have autonomy over how you react to it. And honor and respect the mother of your children. Don't strive to be right all the time, strive to be understanding and compassionate. I was taught that love is the highest form of understanding. That's the best part.

@likogamebred

Manhood means accountability. It means knowing you are responsible for the well being of not just your family, but your extended cipher. That means your community and nation as well. Protecting and setting a better example for the babies. Manhood means to boss up.

Fatherhood means always being a student. It means service. Above everything, a father is a great servant. It means knowing when to lead and guide, and when to sit back, listen, observe and respect. It means allowing yourself to be vulnerable, but also be a pillar of strength. And fatherhood means love. I always say that I don't give my babies tough love, because love is tough  enough.

@likogamebred

Malik Bomani is a father, youth mentor and community organizer raised out of Miami, Fl. As a behavioral health professional, he has dedicated his time providing care coordination for youth and adults with a variety of mental and behavioral health issues. He is also a brand director for The New Caribbean™, a fashion and multimedia company showcasing entrepreneurs and independent artists from the Caribbean and the Caribbean diaspora.