The Girl Turned Gilda

In The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez presents an unusual first novel, a distinctive take on vampires from an African-American point of view. The text of this episodic work is divided into eight segments depicting the life of the protagonist from the time she was a runaway slave rescued by and incorporated into a vampire "family" in Louisiana in 1850 to a troubled but not hopeless future 200 years later, when the secret is out and the hidden society of vampires among us is revealed to the world. The protagonist in the beginning of the first segment is known as The Girl, when Gilda passes away she gains her name as her now known reference. Reader’s can analyze this character through her perspectives toward herself, others, and the world.

The Girl was a victim of slavery and was courageous enough to runaway. She never will forget her past knowing who she is and where she came from. Every time she came across a white man she could only think that he would report her and have her sent back to her owner. This brings shame upon her, because she knows she is not free. She is not one to be full of herself, but more curious and observant about the other girl’s in Woodward. Woodward is the brothel house that Gilda owns and operates, Gilda is who found and rescued The Girl. But no matter where she came from she knows that she is an African American woman, and men will take advantage of her, she is brave by not letting them do so. In fact, she killed a man that tried to rape her and also talked back to one of the customers at Woodward that groped her breast. She is a character that understands her place in life, and acts on that.

The Girl perceives others as equals if not higher than her. She understands that by being rescued by Gilda, she has nothing to boast about. The Girl is loyal towards Gilda, and the other girls especially Bird. She loves when Bird educates her, whether it was through books or stories. Being a girl born and raised in slavery, she is excited and open to hear new things about the world she lives in. She accepts everyone that comes into her life whether they are a positive or negative memory, she grows to learn from her past and brings it forth to her future. She understands and is respectful toward what Gilda has planned for her accepting her name after she passes away, and joins their family. Everyone The Girl meets in life impacts it, and she does not forget about them.

The Girl perceives the world to be a life she has yet to come into full contact with and understand. She understands that there is a good and bad in the world. The good be the people and tings that help her get by in life, and the bad that try to hurt her in life. She knows that there is a big difference being a man and a woman in America, and a bigger difference between being African American and Caucasian. As an African American woman, not free, she understands that she is at the bottom of the social caste system. Being afraid of Gilda, a Caucasian woman was her first instinct because she knew that Gilda was capable of sending her back. However, by working with Gilda, feeling her love and compassion towards her, witnessing her love toward Bird, and the love shared amongst the other girls in the house, she feels that girls no matter what ethnicity can bond, befriend, and care for one another. However, men are the furthest thing The Girl would like to befriend and care for. She only has bad dreams about them, and her bad memories about them bringing terror to her. Though she may not know a whole lot about the world, what she does know is what she will try and work with to get by in life.

The Girl perceives life to be very valuable, she is thankful that she is still alive. She loves her mother for helping her escape the bad life she once lived and, she remembers her mother every day. She loves her mother, and until Gilda mentions love, The Girl never even thought about it. The Girl knows her place in society, does not go against its norms, and if she is able to deepen her understanding about the world she does not hesitate to do so. I enjoy following this character, and I am eager to witness her grow and develop using any new information she may encounter in her life.

Meet Guillaume

Guillaume is a character that enjoys the finer things in life and I noticed this once he started to complain about a restaurant being poisonous due to its surrounding. He is a character introduced in James Baldwin’s work of fiction, Giovanni’s Room, a story that takes place in France during the 1950's. It is about how a man deals with his sudden falling in love with another man. Meet Guillaume through his values, character traits, and his relationship with Giovanni.

Guillaume values his money and other people’s opinions about him. He values money because it gives him the opportunity to have a rich life and have other’s think highly of him. He is the owner of gay bar that the characters enjoy going to. He also values people’s opinions about him by dressing in expensive clothes, telling his grand stories, being sociable with is customers, and having Giovanni address him as his patron. Being rich is important to him because, I believe that he thinks that first impressions are all about how he is presented externally.

Baldwin illustrates Guillaume to be a character that is egotistical and boring. He expresses being proud by letting everyone in his bar know that this is his bar, he welcomes other characters with long stories, and when first meeting Giovanni at a movie theater, Guillaume emphasizes how expensive his lost scarf is. He is boring due to the other character’s reactions to him and his storytelling. The narrator, David, describes Jacques face to wander while Guillaume continues to talk to him. Giovanni also shares with the readers how after hearing the story of Guillaume’s lost scarf and being asked out to accompany him in dinner, he agreed to end the conversation. However, he did not plan to go due to Guillaume’s lack of personality.

The day has come that the two planned to have dinner, and by not eating all day Giovanni decided to meet up with Guillaume. From then on, the two developed a relationship in which Guillaume gave Giovanni a place to live, and a source of income, working at his bar. Being so good with the customers, bringing in business, Guillaume kept him and at the same time could not touch him which is what Giovanni wanted. Giovanni literally accepted Guillaume as his patron.

I think that Guillaume is proud of what he has made out of himself, the owner of a gay bar, and is not shy to let other people know. This works in his benefit because, by being the owner the customers have to be loyal to him and they show this by listening to his long stories. I think that it is safe to categorize Guillaume as a boring, rich, elderly homosexual that takes what you have to say about him into deep consideration.

Help Me Help You

In literature, a motif is a reoccurring theme, symbol, image, phrase, object, or character. In the memoir, The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life by Frankie Lennon, the narrator expresses to her readers her journey in life as a lesbian black woman. In her memoir, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) motifs lay waiting for readers to catch them. The GLBT motifs of affirming sexual identity and coping with homophobia and sexism in the black community can be found in the selections of “Tribes” and “Sanctuary.”

The narrator affirms her sexual identity through the atmosphere and people she meets in “Tribes” and “Sanctuary.” In “Tribes” the narrator depends on the other same sex attracted couples to teach her how to be free like them. She felt comfortable at Jewel’s, the main black gay bar in Los Angeles, assuring herself that she is indeed lesbian. In “Sanctuary” Reverend Carl Bean helps the narrator affirm her sexual identity by reminding her that she has nothing to be ashamed about because, she is born the way she is and that she is special. The narrator found affirmation about her sexual identity among the people and places where she also found acceptance, hospitality, and understanding. For her it was at Jewel’s Room Bar and Unity Fellowship Church of Christ at the Ebony Showcase Theater.

At Jewel’s and Ebony Showcase Theater is where the narrator goes to cope with homophobia and sexism in the black community. In Jewel’s the narrator drinks up and has a good time with her new found tribe. This is where she relaxes and let loose to get away from the hectic life of reality. During the gatherings at the Ebony Showcase Theater she felt like she belonged, and it was her time to associate with other people that may have been going through the same things she is going through. She found common ground with these people, now knowing that she does not have to hide who she is anymore. She finds refuge, hope, and guidance from the people she met at the Unity Fellowship Church of Christ. In both of these places, the narrator found new ways of coping with her experiences with homophobia and sexism in the black community.

“Tribes” is where the narrator shares here experience finding her place in Los Angeles and, “Sanctuary” is where readers read into the narrator finding a place for prayer, understanding, and comfort. Both places the narrator found more that what she was looking for, she also found acceptance toward her establishing herself as a lesbian and ways to cope with the problems she may encounter by doing so. Reading about the narrator’s journey about how tough it is being who she is day to day made me realize that same sex attracted people today suffer in silence, I can help them speak out. Not talking about in public with a microphone, but just be there for them when I can. It has happened to my friend many times, and I am trying my best to be her tribe and sanctuary.

Tribes

People learn how to act, talk, walk, and dress from other people. These people may be friends, neighbors, or tribes. A tribe is a family, especially a large one (Webster’s Dictionary). In The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life by Frankie Lennon, in the selection “Tribes,” the narrator finds her tribe within the main black gay bar in Los Angeles. The narrator grows a relationship with this place, and the people within it and clearly sets the mood of the environment for her readers to grasp.

The main black gay bar I have previously mentioned is Jewel’s Room Bar. The narrator’s relationship with Jewel’s is a fresh start, because it is the place where she felt most comfortable in the big town of Los Angeles after living there for almost six years. In this place she is nervous at first meeting her tribe, grows in anger and jealousy because of feeling cheated, but in the end is excited with curiosity being a part of this tribe.

Taking her readers with her inside the bar we feel the sense of freedom and awareness she feels when she is there. She illustrates the place being filled with homosexual couples, carefree of what others may think about them and their homosexuality; a gay and lesbian couple dancing on the dance floor, a quartet of gay men laughing louder than the music, a bartender shaking his hips as he walked, and the three gay musketeers that gossiped with the other bartender. She is in awe and speechless towards these people’s actions, because it was something that she had never seen before. Witnessing this, the narrator felt cheated because before moving to Los Angeles all she knew was to camouflage her homosexuality. She felt cheated knowing that maybe her past relationships would have lasted longer if her and her significant others were surrounded by an environment like Jewel’s.

Though not letting go of feeling short ended, she took Jewel’s and the people enjoying their stay there to her advantage. Jewel’s is important to the narrator, because it has something to offer to her that no other place could. Not only was she relaxed at Jewel’s due to it being a bar, but it encouraged her to let loose and just be herself, black and lesbian. She took this time and opportunity to learn. I think that the narrator put the definition of a tribe in the beginning of the story is so that her readers can keep in mind that this is her new found tribe. As someone would learn from their family, friends, or acquaintances, the narrator learns from the people at Jewel’s. She learned from her tribe. She becomes excited, because she finally has someone to look up to, follow, imitate, and ask and take advice from. This is where she can learn to be who she is without shame.

With this, reader’s can follow the reoccurring themes or ideas in this selection, also known as a motif. Within the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender motifs a few can be found in “Tribes.” The narrator affirming her sexual identity is one, because at Jewel’s she felt satisfied with who she is, and where she is whole heartedly comfortable. Another motif is the awakening of the narrator’s lesbian sexual desire by remembering her encountering a beautiful lady dressed in white that left her shy and speechless.

As for the significance of the story, I think that this story is about the narrator finally finding her haven place in big Los Angeles. Being new to this city is hard and she has been blessed to find a place like Jewel’s for herself. She acknowledges Jewel’s because it is where they accepted her therefore, her accepting herself. Frankie Lennon was unmasked in 1987 at Jewel’s Room Bar.

Trickster

An archetypal trickster is a character or figure that uses his ingenuity to defeat enemies and escape difficult situations. Tricksters are most often animals, such as the spider, rabbit, coyote, fox, monkey, or raven although they may take the form of humans as well. These characters are portrayed to be mysterious, mischievous, kind and cruel teacher, punisher, guardian, magician, sinister, shape shifter, and comical.

Frog and Skunk

In the fables I have read in Talk That Talk, I have learned many life lessons especially in, “The Frog Who Wanted to Be a Singer” by Linda Ross and, “The Story of the Skunk and Why He Has Such a Bad Smell” by Jerdine Nolen Harold. Frog has taught me that courage in oneself surpasses any negative opinion about you. If you have to the courage to step out of your comfort zone, you will then know how far you can go. Though I know that everyone has a say in what I do, I’m the only one that can determine how it will affect me. Skunk has taught me that though I may not notice all that I have now, it is enough. Though people say that the grass is greener on the other side, I should be happy with my own grass. I enjoyed reading these fables and, took them as a reminder that who I am is what I believe in and what I see myself as.

Just Hide

In Frankie Lennon's Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman's Life "Fever", I felt the fear within the two lovers. I see the narrator fall in love with a woman who loved her back, sometimes. I was angry with how the two dealt with the situation in which they came to a conclusion that they had to hide away from society in order to love each other. They loved each other affectionately and passionately behind doors, but when in the public eye their love was kept a secret. The narrator and Stacey isolated their love from society by dating other men out of fear. However, when the two are alone and act spontaneously toward one another is where I saw the love and infatuation they had for each other. I understand that at the time it was hard to be a black woman, but with the narrator's situation she had something else to struggle with, being lesbian. As a result, hiding it is how the two felt safe and hiding it killed the narrator inside.

Baptism

In Frankie Lennon’s, Mee Street Cronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life, the selection “Baptism” reveals a new chapter in the narrators life. Baptism can be another word for reborn, a new beginning and an initiation. In this selection the narrator experiences events that will contribute to her baptism in life.

Growing up with the Jim Crow laws and having been segregated from white people all her life, coming back with the laws no longer being put into play is a big change the narrator goes through. The narrator experiences “black college students [storming] and [overrunning] ole Jim Crow’s fort with their lunch sit-ins… acting on their faith in The Constitution and The Bill of Rights, young Black students and their White compatriots would put life and limb on the line… starting the Voter Education Project.” She later witnessed the results of these actions starting of positively small to the abolishment of ““White Only” signs over water fountains and bathrooms” to the negatively big assassinations of the Kennedys’ and Slaughter of the children in the Baptist Church in Birmingham.

The narrator shares her feelings towards these changed society gestures in which she notices that though the changes have been made physically, emotionally and mentally is the true goal. The goal of acceptance because, if the changes were made due to common vote and pleasure to make one look good, the events that happened were bound to happen. People are stubborn and will act of just that, and their stubborn actions will result in the death of others.

In this selection, the narrator is baptized into the world of reactions to these changes, initiated to be able to stand up for who she is and reborn to be able to express her thoughts and not be condemned or damned for doing so. The narrator’s purification of innocence is now taken away and she is baptized into the new reality of her life now as a grown black woman living in America.

I Think This Key is Right

Reading Frankie Lennon’s, “Woman Dreams: Going Against the Grain”, in The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life, the narrator has taken me on ride into her world of her darkness. The narrator becomes intrigued and captured by the many desirable woman of Hollywood and questioned if she was the only girl on the playground dreaming about them.

During this story the narrator, as a six year old young girl living in Knoxville, Tennessee, is the protagonist, falling in lust for Hollywood starlets. These woman being Rita Hayworth, Susa Hayward, Ava Gardener, and Dorothy Dandridge to just name a couple. These women cause conflict within the narrator herself. She states on page 53 that “At some point, [she doesn’t] remember when, [she] began to wonder if other girls dreamed like [she] did, not of men, but of women.” Hollywood is the antagonist in which it left her in the dark as she realized on page 53 that “Hollywood whetted and teased [her] appetite about sex,” straying her away from the desires of men onto those of woman on screen which she considered taboo. This taboo brings up another conflict between the narrator and the inner force of society. Having the curiosity and urge to ask her friend about her dreams are not fulfilled due to the fear of not being accepted and being viewed differently. As a result, “going against the grain” is understood to be going against what is considered normal and accepted in society back then.

Though the story explains itself better as a whole, it is on page 57 that I f ound closure with the narrator during this small journey. She states that the movie starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, or their screen names Carmen and Joe, she “[remembers] that both became prisoners of their wanting… because later on, [she] became a prisoner, too, required to hide, required to put aside [her] own desires, unable to pursue and resolve them… as time passed, somehow, in [her] mind, that movie became a signal event for [her], defining thing taboo… defining limits and boundaries that you cross at your peril.” I understood that she was lost with what to believe until the next passage I read which states “[she is] there in the dark waiting anxiously… waiting for the camera to show [her] the next woman that will inhabit [her] dreams.” Here I grew in excitement because, I took this as her telling her readers that she understands the taboo of her dreaming about women. She understood that her dreams were not normal back then however, she does not care because this is who she is, take it or leave it.

While reading this story I thought of a friend close to me, she would always be different from the other girls at school but no one really could put their finger on it. It was not until high school when she told us about her bisexuality. She told us she noticed it herself back in fifth grade but, she never told us because she thought that we would treat her differently. This made me understand why the narrator did not want to ask her mother or friends about her thoughts of woman. This fear that some people have are understandable but, the reason to why people would treat them different has yet to be explained to me.