When I moved to SF in 1984, the job market was pretty slim for a 15-year-old Black Peace Punk with baby dreads. For a hot minute, I thought about becoming a Bike Messenger, but honestly, it was too gnarly. I enjoyed eating at their favorite restaurant, Hamburger Mary’s. Most of them were either punks or punk-adjacent, and many of your favorite punk bands had members who were bike messengers. I had loads of respect for bike messengers because they put their lives on the line daily. They were the first responders of delivery. Even as I got older, during the 90s, I still had mad respect for them, because I knew that many of them were living their lives to the beat of their own drum. Today I want to share these two bike messenger documentaries, one from the 80s and one from the 90s: BEASTS OF BURDEN & PROOF OF DELIVERY.
All photos by Rick McGinnis