Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez
Former boxer Norman Alonso, a driven and modest Jamaican, moved to Britain in the 1950s with his wife and kids in search of a better future. Norman and his family are strong despite being plagued by unforeseen illness and racism, and they are well aware that their family will need more than just hope to live in their new country.
Jesse leaves his fractured immediate family, his oppressive religious group, and his downtrodden homeland in the industrial Black Country at the turn of the millennium in search of a new beginning in London. But while there, he struggles to find his new point of reference and turns to sex work, music, and art to develop his own ideas about love, masculinity, and spirituality.
Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez
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The racial experience of a black young man in the UK is illustrated in this amazing, timely book. It spins a gripping tale of self-realization and love while portraying racism as it is seen by minorities in today’s society so elegantly and efficiently.
The young religious outsider who was shunned by both his family and the religious community due to his homosexuality is a moving example of how someone can survive after being rejected by both their family and their religion. How can one locate a loving new family and rediscover their value and significance in this world? This book chronicles the path of one young guy in attaining this. It’s challenging to condense Rainbow Milk because it contains so much depth and nuance in the experience. It is a queer bildungsroman and Paul Mendez’s first piece of literature; nevertheless, because of its intricacy, it is much more than that.
Beginning the narrative is Norman Alonso, a former boxer from the Windrush generation who is trying to establish his position and provide a secure and prosperous life for his small family. As the Black Country proves to be anything but the promised land of opportunity and fresh starts that Alonso had envisioned, we share in his grief.
From then, we follow Jesse McCarthy through his formative years, beginning as somewhat of a genius in the Black Country congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, sometime after Alonso’s story. Despite his best efforts to be the ideal son, Jesse lives with a distant, depressed mother, a white, upper-crust stepfather, and two half-sisters. None of them seems to be able to see how he fits into their lives. Jesse tries to come out as a queer Black guy while facing rejection from his family, the Witnesses, and even his best friend as he embarks on a new life in London.
Like the majority of us when we are late teenagers, his London years are awkward and unsatisfactory. Given that Jesse worked as a sex worker and describes several formative events, this section of the book does get quite explicit in terms of sexual content. I’m delighted that sex work is described and handled as employment because it is work. Mendez avoids the lazy and foolish stereotype that sex job portrayals frequently fall into by freely discussing sex work without implying that it is morally repugnant or humiliating. Although it isn’t the main emphasis of Jesse’s life, it does give him a means of exploring issues like family, religion, racism, relationships, housing, and self-discovery. Although it sounds like a lot to cover in one chapter, Mendez brings up these issues beautifully throughout.
