How did you come about the plot surrounding Vennie Walker?
Vennie Walkers episodes grew out of the injuries that my Mother of the Church Aunt, Corine Coffee, sustained when she worked as a housekeeper/cook in the homes of more affluent whites. The overwork (they paid her for one day but expected her to do a weeks worth of work in that one day), the endless washing, ironing, cleaning took a physical toll. She stood at ironing boards and washing machines and stoves so long that her feet became damaged. The employers hiding of money under pillows to test her integrity was a slap in the face, the unwanted attention from the employers husbands who thought there was nobody who cared enough about her for him to worry about repercussions was a wound to her spirit. Aunt Corine did not only endure all these burdens but so did many of her female friends. The hearing of the sacrifices these women made for their families troubled me. I decided to write about a Black woman who gets tired of being insulted, who rises up, and says NO. No more! Thats Vennie Wa
