Hello, Street Sense readers, fans, and supporters! I’d like to dedicate this article to a great and inspiring man that many of you probably knew. His name was Bernard Gray, a.k.a. Dr. Shine. And some of us that really knew him called him Boo! Bernard passed away. To me, he was a legend who had survived both prosperity and adversity — staying strong with a smile on his face and telling jokes the whole time!
If you saw or knew him you would agree. It’s heartbreaking and sad how he left! However, it was his time to leave and go to a better place with the Creator almighty. He will be missed with plenty of love from all of us that knew him and, maybe now that you know of him, by you, too. He showed me what it is like to have strength as an individual being.
Boo was a Viking, a soldier, and a good man that worked to earn a living every day until the end of his time. Everybody around the restaurants and clubs on 19th, 18th, and M streets NW respected him for his talent and was enraptured by his attitude and behavior.
Dr. Shine’s life and death shows just how hard it is for individuals like us who strive every day to take care of ourselves and our families. While we’re dealing with poverty and adversities, there are other individual beings sitting on the sidelines. They watch and judge the average person who asks for help, support, guidance, or motivation during depression!
Since Bernard Gray’s death, I have seen no family member step up to recognize him. Only the people that have been around him through hard times have mourned him — his family on the street. We, as a community, cannot continue to neglect people when times get tough. With that negative approach, homelessness will only continue to exist. The rich get richer, while the middle class stay the same or inch closer to homelessness themselves. While the poor will be poor and die, with no remembrance!
Ask yourself, is this what you want in life? Would you want to show your family and children how you really feel towards the less fortunate? To enjoy excess while others could not take care of themselves? Think about it. It’s time to step up, citizens, and be your brother and sister’s keeper! God bless in heart and soul!
