Backstory - When Renee Met Steven (1977 NYC Blackout)

Writing this is hard because I've been binge watching Empire after listening to Taraji P. Henson's autobiography, and not too long ago, I watched Southside With You about Barack and Michelle Obama's first date. I don't want to replicate other stories when I think about how Renee and Steven first met. I've spent so much time thinking about Subria's story that I never thought about how her parents met. It makes sense, though, to explore this, because it could shed some light on why Renee stays with Steven despite his challenges.

Renee doesn't stay with him for Subria or the twins (if they end up staying in the story).  I think she stays because, in addition to loving him, she understands something about him. Maybe she understands what caused his challenges, and it creates an empathy for him that blinds her to how Subria is impacted. It has to begin somewhere, though. Hmm . . .

In order to create a backstory, I needed to figure out the answers to some questions, which, of course, created more questions:

1. How old are Renee and Steven in the story? When she's born can inform where she may have met Steven. In the story, Subria is 14 in 1994, which means she was born in 1980. I wanted Renee to be in her early 20s when she has Subria, so I'm thinking Renee was born in 1957. I want Steven to be older than Renee, but not by much, so let's say Steven was born in 1955.
2.  Now that we know how old Steven and Renee are, and I know that they're both African-American living in New York City, I need to figure out what part of New York City they lived in, and what things were like for African-Americans in New York City in the mid-late 50s, and also in the 60s when they were growing up. 
3. When should they meet, and how? I want them to meet in 1977, get married in 1978, and have Subria in 1980. What's special about 1977? That's the year of my first memory - the blackout in July, 1977. Could they have met during the blackout? That could be interesting . . .
4. If I want them to meet during the blackout, I need to do some research on what happened on July 13-14, 1977. What part of the city were they in? Were they impacted by looting and rioting? Thankfully, Dishon and I just watched a documentary about the blackout last week, so that will help.

In 1977, depending on when her birthday falls, Renee will be 19-20. That means that if she went to college, she would likely be in school then. Steven would be 21-22, so he might be close to finishing school if he went to college. I have a special place in my heart for Brooklyn College since I spent my first year of college there. I'm not sure if anything significant happened on the Brooklyn College campus during the blackout, but I think it might be interesting to play with the idea of them being on the campus during the blackout and having to walk home together because the trains weren't working and I can't imagine that the buses were running without working streetlights. 

The blackout happened at around 8:40 p.m. on July 13th. If they met at school, there would need to be a reason that they were at school on a summer evening.  Turns out that Pratt Institute in Brooklyn was not impacted by the blackout because the school had their own generator. I thought of maybe having them on that campus, but I'd need to figure out what they'd be studying, and if it would make sense for them to be Pratt students. 

Considering that in the future, Renee owns a natural food store, she could study nutrition, and work at a natural food store while in school. When I was younger, my mom used to shop at Perelandra Natural Food Center downtown Brooklyn. I was always fascinated by that store - the colors, the smells, everything so different from what I saw in C-Town, Key Food and Associated supermarkets in my neighborhood.

What if Renee worked there? Looks like the store closes at 10 p.m. Maybe Steven was a customer there when the blackout hit? I should think about where in New York City they both live, why he'd be there, and what happens after the lights go out? Why would she go with him anywhere? Why would she trust him? Perhaps he was trustworthy then. Do someone's personal challenges make them untrustworthy, or just broken like we all are in some way?

Maybe he offers to walk her home to make sure she gets home safely? Depending on what section of the city she lives in, this could be a long walk. I love the idea of them walking across the Brooklyn Bridge together. Romantic. What if she lives in Greenwich Village? Him walking her home over the bridge has some cool possibilities . . .