Booker Williams
The Reverend Booker Williams
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Skinny, roughly average height.
Facial Features
Angular face, thick lips, curly black hair.
Apparel & Accessories
Usually wearing a black suit, black shirt, and a clerical collar. His professional uniform.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Booker was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma shortly after his family moved there. His family, and the rest of his community were unusually well off compared most other people of color in the United States. His father was a lawyer, affording his mother the choice to be a stay at home mother. While the rest of his siblings excelled at various sports and became very skilled tradesmen, Booker took more after his father. He was known for his gregarious nature and deep love of reading. This was the only way he was similar to his father, however.
Despite his father's prominence in the community, he was a different person behind closed doors. Jesse Williams, his father, made it a habit to come home drunk and mistreat his family. More than once had his wife discovered that Jesse had been unfaithful with his secretary. While she tried to protect her children from this, Booker knew. The whole family knew. People often call Booker a "chip off the old block," admiring how similar he was to his father. Booker hated it. Booker hated his father.
More and more as time went on, he dedicated his life to his faith. From a relatively early age he knew that he wanted to be a minister. So he studied to become one.
Eventually, his family reached the boiling point. Bookers mother, threatened to leave Jesse, at which point Jesse became violent. Booker ended up pulling a gun on him that he had purchased a month earlier, though he hadn't had a chance to buy ammunition. Jesse left the family at that point. He continued to support them, but he never came home and started a new life. Booker begrudgingly used that money to put himself through seminary. From that point on, Booker always kept his pistol loaded and went to the range weekly. If his father came back, he would be ready.
Booker eventually finished seminary began serving as a deacon at a church in Harlem. He became The Reverend Williams. He was loved by his congregation and a powerful speaker. He found himself with a lot of free time that he used to further dedicate himself to the study of scripture, Christianity, and the history of Christianity worldwide. He decided not to come home to Tulsa. He didn't feel ready. He knew that his faith dictated he needs to forgive his father, but The Reverend didn't know if he could. But he eventually came to regret taking too long to do so. The Tulsa Race Massacre happened in 1921, during which Jesse Williams died defending Dick Rowland at the jailhouse. The Reverend was devastated. He couldn't bring himself to come to the funeral, something which he is still ashamed of.
The Reverend did accept his father's significant inheritance, however. He used it to build his own chapel in a corner of Harlem that lacked one of the Episcopalian denomination nearby. Now a bishop of his own congregation, he hopes that his continued service to the Lord will one day bring him some absolution.
Sexuality
Straight
Education
He got his masters in divinities at an episcopalian seminary. There he was very well educated and since then has dedicated years of his life to the study of the bible, history, and the areas of the occult tangential to Hebrew, Egyptian, and Arabic folklore and oral history.
Employment
He's been the pastor of his congregation for 2 years now, a smaller church in Harlem.
Failures & Embarrassments
He will always regret not coming home to his family, and never going to his father's funeral. He wishes he was there more for his mother. He regrets not being more forgiven.
Mental Trauma
The death of his father weighs heavily on him.
Intellectual Characteristics
The Reverend Williams has always been sharper than the average person. He is a quick study and has a good memory.
Morality & Philosophy
He is a Christian, and a very strong believer. He believes that Jesus Christ is the perfect exemplar of morality. He studies Him and the words of others who have studied him. Though he doesn't followed them completely, Thomas Aquinas and Emmanuel Kant are his greatest moral inspirations.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Beyond dealing with his personal trials, his calling in life is to learn how Christians loved and practiced throughout the ages to have a better understanding of what it means (or can mean) to be a Christian in the present.
Likes & Dislikes
He enjoys making and talking with friends, target shooting, and Sarsaparilla.
He dislikes washing dishes, librarians, and politics.
Vices & Personality flaws
He has been known be more flirtatious with the opposite sex than a priest ought to be, although nothing has come of it.
He can sometimes let his temper get the better of him.
Personality Quirks
He only owns two pairs of underwear. He washes his dirty pair when he takes his daily shower, and then leaves it to dry to wear the next day.
He hates the sound of crinkling paper.
Social
Religious Views
The Reverend is devoutly Christian.
Social Aptitude
He is very gregarious and charming. He isn't very good at lying, however.
Charming Episcopalian minister and biblical researcher/historian
View Character Profile
Age
33
Date of Birth
1892
Birthplace
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Children
Current Residence
Harlem, New York
Gender
Male
Eyes
Dark Brown
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Black
Height
5' 9"
Weight
130 lbs.
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