Book Title: HOMEWARD
Character Name: Rose Perkins Bourdon
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
I come from a large, loving family. I have two sisters, and three older brothers, two of which are twins. My family is so supportive. Even when I came back home to live after making a really bad life decision, they embraced me and encouraged me to become my best self. I have my parents, Cedric and Opal Perkins, to thank for that. Our home was always filled with unconditional love, and the mindset that there was no sin too big or too small to be forgiven.
What was your greatest talent?
I have a great memory. I struggled in school except for when we had to memorize things. Because of my ability to memorize, I was able to pass the Voter Registration test my people were forced to take in order to be eligible to vote. Had I not had such a great memory, I don’t know if I would have ever passed that awful test.
Significant other?
The love of my life was my husband, Jasper. He loved me even when I didn’t deserve it. Unfortunately, he passed away. Eventually, I met another wonderful man named Isaac Weinberg. He was very different from Jasper, but he cared about me in a way that allowed me to eventually open my heart to love again.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
Recognizing that a relationship only works when two people are honest and open with each other. It took me a while to figure that out. Thankfully, I had Mama and Daddy as examples.
Where do you live?
Parsons, Georgia. It sits between Atlanta and McDonough, GA.
Do you have any enemies?
Not that I know of. At first, I was my biggest enemy until I learned to love myself.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I hate the fact that racism still exists in the community I grew up in and love so much. Parsons, GA is home, but there are people there, who try very hard to make me feel like I don’t belong. That is why I am so grateful for people like Miss Jainey and Senator Jimmy Earl Ketchums. They are white citizens of Parsons, GA who eventually supported our right to vote and not be discriminated against. They remind me that even though there are a lot of hateful white people in my community there are also great individuals like Miss Jainey and Senator Ketchums who are trying to correct the sins of the past.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
I had a baby girl, but she died before she was able to be born. My daddy has two coon dogs, King and Jupiter, and in some ways, they are more my dogs than they are his.
What do you do for a living?
I am currently attending nursing school at Spelman College.
Greatest disappointment?
Losing my husband and daughter within days of each other.
Greatest source of joy?
Passing the voter registration test. It was unfair and uncalled for, but I was proud of myself for getting all the questions correct. They did not win.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
I like spending time with my family. We enjoy getting together and eating food and singing songs on the front porch.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I cheated on my husband and got pregnant with a baby by another man. Thankfully, Jasper forgave me, butt it still haunts me.
What keeps you awake at night?
(SEE ABOVE)
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
My most pressing problem is making sure I don’t allow the grief of loss to overwhelm me to the point where I don’t live life in a way that would be pleasing to God and my deceased husband.
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
I would like for my people to be treated fairly. It is 1963. Too many people have lost their lives like Medgar Evers, those four little girls at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and our dear president, John F. Kennedy. No more bloodshed should have to happen. We, as a people, should be able to get along and love each other.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
Hatred and fear are what is in the way of true freedom. I pray that my future children and grandchildren will never have to experience what I and my people have had to endure.
A Novel
The country is changing, and her own world is being turned upside down. Nothing—and no one—will ever be the same.
Georgia, 1962. Rose Perkins Bourdon returns home to Parsons, GA, without her husband and pregnant with another man’s baby. After tragedy strikes her husband in the war overseas, a numb Rose is left with pieces of who she used to be and is forced to figure out what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Her sister introduces her to members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—young people are taking risks and fighting battles Rose has only seen on television. Feeling emotions for the first time in what feels like forever, the excited and frightened Rose finds herself becoming increasingly involved in the resistance efforts. And of course, there is also the young man, Isaac Weinberg, whose passion for activism stirs something in her she didn’t think she would ever feel again.
Homeward follows Rose’s path toward self-discovery and growth as she becomes involved in the Civil Rights Movement, finally becoming the woman she has always dreamed of being.
Multicultural African-American | Women's Fiction Southern [Harper Muse, On Sale: October 10, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781400241101 / eISBN: 9781400241118]
Angela Jackson-Brown is an award-winning writer, poet and playwright who teaches Creative Writing, English and African American Studies at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. She is also a member of the graduate faculty of the School of Creative and Professional Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, KY.
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