My name is Charlene Joseph. A five-foot-eleven, busty and big-bottomed, dark-skinned and deliciously voluptuous Black woman of Haitian descent living in the city of Buffalo, New York. I'm a student at Buffalo State College, majoring in civil engineering. This right here is my story of making it in the fast-paced and often treacherous world of collegiate America. I'm something you've never seen before, folks, so please brace yourselves. A good Black woman in the United States of America who actually appreciates good Black men. Can I get a drum roll please?
The majority of Black females you meet in America don't seem to appreciate good Black men. Plenty of Black men are hard-working, college-educated, law-abiding and God-fearing gentlemen. They're not rare. There are plenty of them. I've met many at my school, Buffalo State College. And I've seen plenty of them at schools like Morehouse College, Florida State, the University of Massachusetts, Georgia State University, Bay State College, Clark-Atlanta University and other schools with significant numbers of Black males in their student body. There are plenty of decent Black men out there. The kind that would make good fathers and good husbands for family-oriented Black women. Unfortunately, these brothers are often overlooked by Black women. What gives?
Well, unlike so many sisters out there, I decided to play it smart. I met a tall, dark and handsome stud named Jerome Louis at Buffalo State College. He's from the city of Brockton, Massachusetts. This native of New England recently graduated from Cardinal August High School, an elite all-male Catholic school. I was smitten with Jerome Louis the first time I laid eyes on him. I like big and tall young Black men with rugged good looks. So I did my homework on him. He came from an impressive family. His father, Sebastien Louis is a Haitian-American civil engineer who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987. He works for the city of Boston. His mother Elisabeth Monpoint Louis is a professor of literature at Emerson College in downtown Boston. His older brother Jonathan attends the prestigious Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Yeah, this brother was something else. Good looks, impressive background and lots of charm. My kind of man.
I came to Buffalo State College not only to get my degree and give myself the chance for a better tomorrow but also to get myself a man. For women today, college is the best time and place to meet your future husband. After college, you quickly find out that the pickings are slim. Most of the good men have already been snatched by other women. So what's a gal to do? Stay single in the big city? Hell no! I see a lot of young Black women at Buffalo State College passing up the good Black men for the kind of men your mama warned you about. The thugs, the hustlers and the gangsters. Nothing against these type of men. I'm sure that thugs, gangsters and hustlers need love too. However, I'm a smart sister instead of a ghetto slut who can't stay no to the bad men because her pussy's eternally in heat. Pardon my French. I'm going to find myself a college-educated brother who's going places instead of a thug. Thank you very much.
I decided to have the sexy Jerome Louis for myself. Unlike most of the men on campus, he was actually shy. I didn't think shy young Black men existed. I've lived in the city of Buffalo my entire life and most of the men around here are a cocky, wildly outgoing bunch.. Jerome kept to himself for the most part. He wasn't an athlete or a cocky party man. He was always at the campus library, doing research or simply reading a book. The man was into some heavy reading. I've seen him check out the works of world-famous African-American scholars like Maya Angelou, Henry Louis Gates and W.E.B. Dubois. I also caught him reading the works of foreign writers like the German philosopher Nietzsche and the Chinese military genius Sun Tzu. This man was amazing. Handsome, friendly, and smart as a whip. I had to get him for myself before some other woman stole him away.
Competition for available handsome young Black men is fierce between the young Black women at Buffalo State College. And we've always got to compete with the Hispanic women and the white women because they can't seem to keep their hands off our young Black men. Not that most of our young Black men are putting up much of a fight. So I approached Jerome, and introduced myself. He was reading a book by Henry Louis Gates, one of my favorite writers. I surprised him because I knew everything about both the book and its author. For the next hour, Jerome and I sat down and talked about the book. We also talked about college life, lousy cafeteria food, the poor condition of most dorms at school and Black politics in Buffalo City. The usual, everyday stuff, you know?
Jerome was simply amazing. If his good looks were what first drew me in, his easygoing manner and intelligence are what kept my attention. I wanted him so badly. So we exchanged numbers, and I set out to seduce him. I added him as a friend on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. We talked to each other at night, and also dined together in the school cafeteria. Yeah, I was working my way into this handsome young Black college man's life. He asked me about my family. Well, that was easy. I'm very proud of my family. My father Lionel Joseph is a Sergeant with the Buffalo Metropolitan Police Department. My mother Jeannette Joseph is the owner of Chez Jeannette, a Haitian-themed restaurant in downtown Buffalo. My brother Jackson is a detective with the NYPD. We do alright for ourselves. Jerome was pleased to hear that. And I'm glad. We had a lot in common. Two Haitian-American students from hard-working families attending college in one of America's toughest cities. And we were actually thriving. How about that?
I was falling in love with Jerome. The man was so handsome and so sweet. He was really nice to me and always there when I needed him. I was really, really attracted to him. However, I wasn't sure if he was attracted to me. We've been to the movie theater together at the Galleria Mall, where we caught Black Dynamite. The movie was awesome, but Jerome did little more than hold my hand through the flick. I'm used to men being much bolder when they're with me. Looks like I'd have to make the first move this time. And so I did. Jerome was handing me the popcorn when I suddenly kissed him on the lips. You should have seen the look on his handsome face. The brother was stunned. He hesitated, then kissed me back. His kiss was...uncertain. I didn't know what to make of that, so I chucked it up to surprise. The long drive back to the dorm was awkward.