by Sandra Beckmeier

In the vein of contemporary literature and non-linear form, described as the flow and rhythm of words, Sharon Bridgforth crystallized the character known as "bull-jean" in her new book, the bull-jean stories. Published in October 1998 by Red Bone Press, the book brings to life the sights and sounds of the rural south in the 1920s with stories that leap to you from the well of love and life, untangling open heart wounds with words and uncovering the strength of the author in pure character.

Her style of writing in vignettes is a testament to oral language, something rare in literature and even more rare in theater where bridgforth has also accomplished a great deal. Sharon Bridgforth is the founder/writer/artistic director of the root wy'mn theater company. Her work can be found in various anthologies including does your momma know?, a collection of black lesbian coming out stories also published by Red Bone Press.

The first time I ever heard the character "bull-jean" was in the startling performance play, no mo blues in 1995. I remember her strutting across the stage -- startling because the character expressed a simple kind of sadness, a drowning in light which is rarely uncovered and reborn. Bridgforth's talent as a storyteller is purposeful and loving.

Consistent in the bull-jean stories is the cultural shadow that bull-jean, an "all-my-heart" revolutionary, secretly and outwardly conquers with nobility and ease, but not without pain. While reading the book I couldn't help but remember the character unified in the depths of the lovely Sonja Parks in the play directed by bridgforth for the stage. The book carries you with it, not the other way around.

na/i's a wo'mn
what's Lovved many wy'mns.
me/they call bull-dog-jean
i say that's cause i works like somekinda ole dog
trying to get a bone or two
they say it's cause i be sniffing after wy'mns down-low/begging and thangs

She waited a long time to find publisher Lisa Moore whose ground-breaking Red Bone Press fit with her vision, which is a blessing, truly honoring bull-jean-a lady of soul, of despair, a student of life who captures a well of wisdom conruent with expressing pain that is universal, yet reaching further into the ways sisters, mothers, daughters, lovers, and friendships are tossed and torn in the war outside creativity. She is paving the way for a caravan of writers defaced and devalued for expressing themselves from the heart, mind and soul.

Simply put, when we come back again and again to do what we feel we have to do, the spirit changes and gravitates, connecting to the sun, the sky, and the moon, giving us a little balance. the bull-jean stories mark that triumph.