The Storytellers of Good Bread Alley
Celia Grace Graham (CELL-yuh or SAY- lee-yah in Spanish) is a chocolate brown Geechie woman of petite stature, little hips to speak of and a set of bosoms that come around the corner before she does. Arrayed in varying shades of yellow and gold, sensually connected to the earth; men smell, taste and fear her heat. An ever-dangling cigarette from the corner of her mouth and an overt sensuality are her defenses. A cigar is required when the winds of change are in the air. Slow to speak, quick of temper, she calculates your worth and how deep your truth runs before your feet have dusted her doorstep. She speaks Geechie English, Afro-Cuban Spanish and the ritual language of Santeria.
Day Graham Celia’s older sister, is a pretty, pecan-brown, double-wide-bottomed, bubbly-shake of a woman. At the groundbreaking of the first black church since the beginning of time, she knows everything about every thing. From a long line of Geechies who scratched and machetted their way out of the Gullah Sea Islands, she has acquired a bit of education and a fearsome desire for “middle-classness”. Proud of the lineage, yet furiously gazing beyond the horizon for a life, free of ghosts and shackles. She speaks in a thick Geechie accent informed by the rhythms of the AME Church.
Cilo del Monte y Santiesteban (CEE-Low dell MOAN-tay Eee Sahn-TEES-tey-ban) . The color of bittersweet chocolate, Cilo is a compact, Afro-Cuban man with a soft step and quiet rivers of understanding. A Babalawo from Oriente wrapped in white guayaberas, a white kofi woven with care and a thick rope of elekes adorning his collar bone; he is a carpenter by trade and speaks with a thick, lyrical Afro Cuban accent. He and Celia listen to the conch shell’s call and when language fails them, they conspire in the realm of the ancestors: a place where deep compassion and love are the food that most revolutionaries eat. He speaks a poetic Afro-Cuban Spanish (como Bebo Valdes o Pedro Knight) as if it is the only language that exists and, he, its only teacher. He also speaks the ritual language of Santeria.
Beatriz de los Reyes y Santiesteban (BEY-ah-trees DAY-Lows RAY-yez Eee Sahn-TEES-tey-ban) The color of chocolate-red clay, in a pale yellow sheath of a dress with a thick Afro Cuban accent; the kind of woman who dies with her pumps on and her lipstick fresh. She is a gentle, but persistent fire; capable of healing broken hearts, quieting shattered spirits and wooing the wind to sing her song. She makes the palm trees wish they were men. She speaks Afro-Cuban Spanish and the ritual language of Santeria.
Daddy Buster – Celia’s new husband, a mahogany-smooth alto sax of a man forever on a well-intentioned quest for a life, better than the one promised. Worn thin by wandering dreams and fancies; he is a citified Prince Charmer who scaled the walls of the castle only to find that the princess had already left with the white guy in the Pontiac. He is a fast-talking, fast-living Geechie who has stolen Celia’s heart, but not her good sense. He speaks in machine-gun bullets. His citified Geechie English is reminiscent of Robert Johnson at the “Crossroads.”
Percival Dionysius del Rios Albury (Dee-oh-NEE-see-us Dell REE-ohs) – The color of a Hershey bar melting in the sun, he is the product of an Afro-Cuban mother and a Cat Island Bahamian father. Percival is the Calypso Club headliner where folks pay their weekend dollar to watch the miracle of gender transformation which he has elevated to performance art: He does not lip sync, he actually sings La Bohéme as Princess Carlotta. Like Cilo and Beatriz, he boards at “Live & Let Live”. Speaking in a rich, Bahamian dialect, he is the wry, intellectual pulse of Good Bread Alley. A lover of men and women, a Rhodes scholar– he is the truth.
Little Miss Miriam – Celia’s daughter, Day’s niece. A skinny, precocious, sweet-spirited cinnamon-brown child is the new Graham line. Twelve years old with a bookish disposition and a fairy-like dreaminess, her smarts and good manners are a testament to the Graham tenacity. But where her mother and aunt are earth and fire, she is water and air. Easily swayed by visions and haunted by books as images jump off the page and march in great battles or dance epic stories in the periphery of her vision; she is an obedient child to a fault. Little Miriam is driven by the desire to do well and to earn her mother’s love, which in Celia’s absence, has become hazy. She speaks 19th Century African-American standard.
Reverend FG Hilton - “ That-light-skinned-Adam-Clayton-Powell-looking-motherfucker” is a tall, refined Morehouse College creation. The epic black preacher who stops hangings and brings justice to the Jim Crow South. He leads the most progressive, congregation in Tampa, as well as, the conference of South Eastern Baptist Ministers in Miami. A force to be reckoned with, his pimp stride is thought to be the final word in this particular game. He speaks 19th Century African-American Standard.
Celia Grace Graham (CELL-yuh or SAY- lee-yah in Spanish) is a chocolate brown Geechie woman of petite stature, little hips to speak of and a set of bosoms that come around the corner before she does. Arrayed in varying shades of yellow and gold, sensually connected to the earth; men smell, taste and fear her heat. An ever-dangling cigarette from the corner of her mouth and an overt sensuality are her defenses. A cigar is required when the winds of change are in the air. Slow to speak, quick of temper, she calculates your worth and how deep your truth runs before your feet have dusted her doorstep. She speaks Geechie English, Afro-Cuban Spanish and the ritual language of Santeria.
Day Graham Celia’s older sister, is a pretty, pecan-brown, double-wide-bottomed, bubbly-shake of a woman. At the groundbreaking of the first black church since the beginning of time, she knows everything about every thing. From a long line of Geechies who scratched and machetted their way out of the Gullah Sea Islands, she has acquired a bit of education and a fearsome desire for “middle-classness”. Proud of the lineage, yet furiously gazing beyond the horizon for a life, free of ghosts and shackles. She speaks in a thick Geechie accent informed by the rhythms of the AME Church.
Cilo del Monte y Santiesteban (CEE-Low dell MOAN-tay Eee Sahn-TEES-tey-ban) . The color of bittersweet chocolate, Cilo is a compact, Afro-Cuban man with a soft step and quiet rivers of understanding. A Babalawo from Oriente wrapped in white guayaberas, a white kofi woven with care and a thick rope of elekes adorning his collar bone; he is a carpenter by trade and speaks with a thick, lyrical Afro Cuban accent. He and Celia listen to the conch shell’s call and when language fails them, they conspire in the realm of the ancestors: a place where deep compassion and love are the food that most revolutionaries eat. He speaks a poetic Afro-Cuban Spanish (como Bebo Valdes o Pedro Knight) as if it is the only language that exists and, he, its only teacher. He also speaks the ritual language of Santeria.
Beatriz de los Reyes y Santiesteban (BEY-ah-trees DAY-Lows RAY-yez Eee Sahn-TEES-tey-ban) The color of chocolate-red clay, in a pale yellow sheath of a dress with a thick Afro Cuban accent; the kind of woman who dies with her pumps on and her lipstick fresh. She is a gentle, but persistent fire; capable of healing broken hearts, quieting shattered spirits and wooing the wind to sing her song. She makes the palm trees wish they were men. She speaks Afro-Cuban Spanish and the ritual language of Santeria.
Daddy Buster – Celia’s new husband, a mahogany-smooth alto sax of a man forever on a well-intentioned quest for a life, better than the one promised. Worn thin by wandering dreams and fancies; he is a citified Prince Charmer who scaled the walls of the castle only to find that the princess had already left with the white guy in the Pontiac. He is a fast-talking, fast-living Geechie who has stolen Celia’s heart, but not her good sense. He speaks in machine-gun bullets. His citified Geechie English is reminiscent of Robert Johnson at the “Crossroads.”
Percival Dionysius del Rios Albury (Dee-oh-NEE-see-us Dell REE-ohs) – The color of a Hershey bar melting in the sun, he is the product of an Afro-Cuban mother and a Cat Island Bahamian father. Percival is the Calypso Club headliner where folks pay their weekend dollar to watch the miracle of gender transformation which he has elevated to performance art: He does not lip sync, he actually sings La Bohéme as Princess Carlotta. Like Cilo and Beatriz, he boards at “Live & Let Live”. Speaking in a rich, Bahamian dialect, he is the wry, intellectual pulse of Good Bread Alley. A lover of men and women, a Rhodes scholar– he is the truth.
Little Miss Miriam – Celia’s daughter, Day’s niece. A skinny, precocious, sweet-spirited cinnamon-brown child is the new Graham line. Twelve years old with a bookish disposition and a fairy-like dreaminess, her smarts and good manners are a testament to the Graham tenacity. But where her mother and aunt are earth and fire, she is water and air. Easily swayed by visions and haunted by books as images jump off the page and march in great battles or dance epic stories in the periphery of her vision; she is an obedient child to a fault. Little Miriam is driven by the desire to do well and to earn her mother’s love, which in Celia’s absence, has become hazy. She speaks 19th Century African-American standard.
Reverend FG Hilton - “ That-light-skinned-Adam-Clayton-Powell-looking-motherfucker” is a tall, refined Morehouse College creation. The epic black preacher who stops hangings and brings justice to the Jim Crow South. He leads the most progressive, congregation in Tampa, as well as, the conference of South Eastern Baptist Ministers in Miami. A force to be reckoned with, his pimp stride is thought to be the final word in this particular game. He speaks 19th Century African-American Standard.