Where did the idea of the character Lonnie come from?
Of all my characters – major and minor – I personally find my gay soldiers, Lonnie, the most intriguing. I had not run across many novels that told the story of gay men – or women – in the military, though in doing research later I came across a few. However, it’s fair to say I have not found any novel that dealt with the experiences of Black gay soldiers.
Lonnie came into being through my research into the 761st Tank Battalion. In a couple of histories of that unit there were mentions by veterans of one soldier who was derisively described as a “sissy.” I thought to myself that they were using a euphemism of the time for a homosexual.
The thought that was triggered in me was, “I wonder what it must have been like to be a gay Black man in the milieu of the time that prized stereotypic traits of manliness and disdained – even hated – any exhibition of homosexuality.”
So, Lonnie was born. But I faced some challenges in writing him. I felt I had to describe him as somewhat effeminate in stereotypic ways. How else would his fellow soldiers suspect his sexual orientation? But I couldn’t make him flamboyantly open. Otherwise, he would have been quickly kicked out of the Army, as so many openly gay soldiers were.
I wanted to delve into the isolation and loneliness he must have felt – and the fear he had of his fellow soldiers. But I didn’t want him just to be a victim. I wanted him to be a complex character with talents people would not have expected of a gay man at that time. That would pique Sammie Johnson’s interest in him – and I need my main character and my gay character to have some kind of relationship.
I honestly feel you will be as intrigued with Lonnie when you read “Black Messiahs” as I was when creating him.