Bryant Williams, a native Baltimorean, is a security guard who works in the Milton S. Eisenhower Annex. The News-Letter interviewed Williams to learn more about his hometown, upbringing and interests.
The News-Letter: Where are you from? Where do you call home?
Bryant Williams: I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. I call home Baltimore, and Woodbury. I was raised in Woodbury. Right across from Druid Hill Park. I spent my life in the woods, going after bamboo, walking in red clay, which we called quicksand because we had an active imagination. So we called it quicksand, and that was during the day. Then at night, we would go out front and play catchers or freeze tag or stuff like that. Also during the day, we would go enjoy the park and go hunting for crayfish in the ponds.
N-L: Were there deer in Druid Hill Park then?
BW: Not at that time. They started coming around like ‘97. At that time there were just owls and hawks and foxes and rabbits. And squirrels and chipmunks, snakes — a lot of snakes. Yeah, the snakes would come across the street and come onto your porch. And I would think they’re going to come into the house because they were, like, hunting people. But they were just looking for more hunting grounds. They were trying to get into the woods, but the houses were in the way.
N-L: Would you see them in your house sometimes?
BW: Not me. Other people. Yeah, I was lucky. Didn’t see any.
N-L: Did you work anywhere before Hopkins? If so, where?
BW: Let me see, I did some different jobs downtown and at other security companies. I was there back in ‘98.
N-L: That’s when you started working with Hopkins?
BW: Well I was actually at the Eisenhower library with a different company called Master Security. We were at the library and I was watching the students studying, and I was like, I’m gonna try to go back to college. So I went, I tried to go back to Coppin to be a zoologist. But I could not get past algebra. Algebra made me sick. I got lightheaded, almost threw up, almost passed out. I cried. It was terrible. It as just basic algebra. I had a terrible algebra teacher. I was like, I can’t become a zoologist because I can’t do algebra, so I quit. I was sad.
N-L: What did you want to do with zoology?
BW: I just wanted to go out into the Serengeti and watch animals, film them, in different parts of the world. Film animals, talk about them, learn about them. But I couldn’t do it. It was terrible.
N-L: Which animal would you have wanted to focus on?
BW: Cats. Lots of cats. I just wanted to do the cats. I wanted to do the lions and the servals, and the leopards and cheetahs. And this one called a pampas cat. He looks like a house cat and his face is kind of smudged in. And he has lots of fur. They give you a mean like: “get out of my face, I’ll go kill you!” They’ll get in your face, just rub out your face, rub out your Adam’s apple and scratch out your eyes.
N-L: How did you get into working in security?
BW: I used to work at Blockbuster. You ever heard of Blockbuster? There’s like one Blockbuster left someplace in the south. At first, Blockbusters used to have off-duty police officers as security. Then the security guards were like “we want a raise” and Blockbuster said, “nah, bro, you’re not getting a raise.” So the cops were like “all right, fine, we out.” So they left and we had to do security.
Then somebody robbed the Blockbuster. I didn’t know that we were being robbed. I saw the manager’s face. He was red, and I was like why is Tom’s face red? And this other dude was like, “you got a problem with this?” And I was like, “Oh he’s not talking to me.” So I turned around and he was leaving. But his gun was inside his pocket.
N-L: So you went from working at the Blockbuster to Master Security?
BW: Yes, at Eisenhower and also on Beaver Dam Road. It was a quarry. A rock quarry where they get sand and basically a lot of rocks for seamen. There were a lot of deer around there and groundhogs and lots of birds and geese. Yeah, I had a run-in with a goose. It was a female goose in her nest. I wanted to know how close I could get to her before she would zap out. So I got from here to where that carpet is and all of a sudden I saw her mate. His head just popped up from the water. I was like, uh oh. And the homie started running and flapping his wings. I just wanted to see so I jetted. Okay, alright I got to see how close I could get.
N-L: Where did you work after that?
BW: I went from there to Peabody. It was very pretty. I just liked walking around. I couldn’t touch the books because they were so ancient. I would just walk around there and just look at the shelves and the floor and how sparkly the brass railings were. Very sparkly. At first I thought it was gold.
After working for Master Security, I didn’t do security for a while. I was a bill collector. That was fun… no it wasn’t. You hear sob stories. I was almost crying. It was stressful. I had to work this job but I was there too long. Then I went to Securitas Security. I was downtown at Harbor East, just walking around. I was a rover, walking around, visiting stores, making sure everything was cool.
N-L: What has been your experience with Hopkins and Hopkins students? How long have you been working in a space with Hopkins students?
BW: Well, later on this month it'll be a full two years. And I've just been at this library and Brody. Sometimes I will be at the different residence halls. Either Wolman or Scotts-Bates or McCoy. And Rogers House and Bradford House. Yeah, those right there are boring because I gotta sit up. Well, I'm able to move around here, but there, if you want to move, you have to call for a replacement. I felt like I'm more locked-in, on lockdown. I don't like that.
N-L: Have you noticed anything change in Hopkins students? Are they generally the same vibe?
BW: Yeah, about the same vibe. Yeah, locked in, locked in, locked in — ‘Gotta study’. I'm like, wow. I look at what they study, and I'm like, ‘oh my god, that looks so scary.’ Anything dealing with chemistry and physics, and calculus. Calculus III freaked me out. I'm like, what is that? I mean, I saw a trident, then I saw a rectangle. No, no, not a rectangle. A triangle and a bowl. And I'm like, why? A trident! Aquaman and Poseidon, they use the trident. The only thing about organic chemistry I understand is photosynthesis. It's so hard. I mean, like if you can survive Hopkins, you're ready for that world.
N-L: What is your biggest piece of advice for a student that's really stressed out, has a ton of work?
BW: Sleep. Stay strong, and be blessed and just sleep. Yes, and pray. Pray a lot.
N-L: Why do you like talking to students? Why is it important to you?
BW: Oh, to keep them encouraged, to help them to relax, not to let that stress get to them. Just relax and get them to laugh a little bit.
N-L: What does a typical day in the life look like for you?
BW: A day off? Sleep. I try to run errands. Go get things I need to get. I need to get some boots, some more boots, and I need another book bag. I have to make time to go for a walk in the park. At either Druid or Lincoln Park. I live across the street from another park. It's part of Gwynns Falls, and it's also part of Lincoln Park. So I walk over there. They have deer there too, and foxes and groundhogs and hawks. There's a hawk around there, and I haven't seen it yet, but I heard it.
N-L: What is your favorite food, because your meals always look great. And what are some of your favorite movies?
BW: Oh yeah, I like science fiction, and I like action adventure, and I love Star Wars. The originals, Lucas. First three, yeah, the first three and the prequels. Nothing that Disney made. I like some westerns. I like Tombstone with Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell, Clint Eastwood: A Few Dollars More, Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
And my favorite food is spaghetti. Spaghetti with ground turkey and Prego sauce. I love Prego sauce.
N-L: What is your favorite song or album of all time?
BW: Favorite album of all time is 1999 by Prince. Also, Bob Marley Survival.
