Praying for Sheetrock

Alston is a black man living in McIntosh County. From a young age, Alston has understood the racism and injustice that he faces as a black man, as well as the corrupt cruelty of Sheriff Poppell, who upholds structural racism in McIntosh County. Alston’s resentment toward Poppell serves as the book’s central conflict. Due to his eloquence and passion on political matters, Alston becomes appointed the de facto spokesperson during a protest at city hall following the shooting of a black man. Poppell joins with his friends Grovner and Pinkney—“The Three Musketeers”—and they form a local NAACP chapter. Their NAACP chapter receives help from a group of white lawyers that assist low-income communities in Georgia. The lawyers and Alston hit McIntosh County with different discrimination-related lawsuits—including one pertaining to voting rights—and win.

After trying for several years, Alston finally wins a seat on the county commission and tries for a few years to implement changes to ease poverty in the black community. However, Alston finds that his white colleagues don’t respect him and his black constituents have too many worries of their own to get caught up in politics. Following the death of his youngest son, Alston turn to alcohol and becomes an idle person. He meets a man who offers him bribes in exchange for opening a club which can be used for drug dealing. The man is an undercover police agent, and Alston gets arrested, convicted, and thrown in jail. Alston’s character arc rises and falls in dramatic fashion; he goes from a naïve victim to a crusader for justice to a morally bereft politician. 

Becca is Alston’s wife, but everyone else in the community knows her as Becca. She is only 16 when she meets the older Alston. She gets pregnant and marries him. She and Alston have eight children together—four biological children and four foster children. Although Becca is supportive of Alston through their early years of marriage, after Alston is convicted and put in jail, she grows resentful of him, given that she is now tasked with supporting their children by herself. Their relationship also deteriorates following the death of their son. 

The Direct Descendants are a group of white Darien residents who descend from the first Scottish settlers in the area. Their Scottish ancestors received a tract of land from the English King George II to colonize the area in the early to mid-1700s. These white residents take great pride in their colonial heritage and will often dress up in the colonial clothing of their forbearers. They honor their colonial heritage prior to slavery but not the plantation period of slavery; these white residents are uncomfortable when the topic of slavery is raised. Greene poses a question of whether Darien belongs to the Direct Descendants or to all residents—white and black included. 

Curry is a deacon of the church, freeborn son of a former slave, and a shrimp fisherman. He is the de facto black patriarch of McIntosh County, and people turn to him for moral guidance. Curry worked as a sharecropper toiling in the fields as a young man. He escapes the harsh life of a sharecropper and thanks God for giving him a chance at a different, better life. He is a man with minimal expectations for what he wants out of life, and he is largely content with his simple way of living. His complacent attitude toward black-white relations clashes with the younger Alston, who seeks a more direct agitation for the civil rights of black people. Nonetheless, these younger men respect Curry’s wisdom because they see him as a black intellectual. Poppell picks Curry as the sole black representative on the county commission, but Curry resigns from his position after he feels like he has no real power. 

Thorpe is an older shrimp fisherman and deacon of a black church in McIntosh County. At Poppell’s request, Thorpe takes on Curry’s position on the county commission. Like Curry, he is seen as a respected black elder in the community, but unlike Curry and Alston, Thorpe is content with merely being in the presence of wealthier, educated white men; he does not fight to be seen as an equal. For the most part, he does not challenge the white commissioners, though he does get into trouble when he supports the white publisher of the Darien News, who is critical of corruption in McIntosh County.

Finch is the on-off lover and friend of Mary Harmon. When he and Mary get into a fight one day, a sheriff’s deputy comes to investigate and winds up shooting Finch in the head. Although Finch survives, his treatment at the hands of the officer leads to protests and sparks a shift among the black community members of Darien and its surrounding communities. 

Mary Harmon is a black woman who gets into trouble in Florida and is effectively bailed out by Sheriff Poppell. Men comment routinely on her attractiveness. When she’s drunkenly arguing with a male friend outside of her home in Darien, a sheriff comes to investigate and winds up shooting him. This incident sparks a shift in the black community in McIntosh County, who start protesting for a change in the status quo of race relations. 

J.R. is an undercover agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. J.R. befriends Alston and offers him bribes in exchange for help establishing a club that will serve as a front for drug dealing. J.R.’s real name is William “Billy” Carter, and he investigates Alston as part of a drug bust in McIntosh County. J.R. dislikes that he must arrest a black man as part of the sting, but he doesn’t believe that the investigation was racially motivated. J.R. believes that Alston is a good man who has done bad things.

Keith is Alston’s youngest son. Through Keith’s adoring young eyes, Alston sees himself as a better man. One day, a car strikes Keith as he’s crossing the road, and Keith dies. Alston and his wife, Becca, never recover from Keith’s death, and Alston begins drinking in excess. Their marriage suffers greatly in the aftermath of Keith’s death. 

A retired high school principal, Devillers is the only black member of the city council and also serves as the mayor pro term. His presence in city government makes it difficult for GLSP lawyers to argue that there is voting discrimination in Darien.

A minister of a local black church and a schoolteacher, Grovner is a college-educated man who leads a local NAACP branch and the McIntosh County Civic Improvement Organization (MCCIO) along with Alston in McIntosh County. He becomes a political force with Pinkney and Alston; the trio become known as the Three Musketeers.

Pinkney is a former schoolmate of Grovner and Alston who moves back to McIntosh after working as a police officer in New York. He receives disability payments after being shot on the job. Pinkney supports Alston’s rise to commissioner but believes it is beyond what his friend can handle, which leads to the drug-dealing indictment. 

Ad Poppell is Sheriff Tom Poppell’s father. Ad Poppell served as sheriff before Tom and passed the position down to his son. Ad Poppell, however, was not corrupt like Tom. He was popular and became elected because of his “good old boy” network, but he did not care about making money or abusing his office in the way his son would later come to do.

Fanny is the daughter and granddaughter of slaves. She cares for her 11 children while her husband works as a logger. Fanny builds a new house but is unable to afford the sheetrock for the roof. She prays to God, and a truck ends up crashing on Highway 17, providing her with the sheetrock that she needs. From Palmer’s prayers, Greene derives the book’s title Praying for Sheetrock. 

A former motel owner and a clerk for the city council, Googe expresses dismay over the voting rights lawsuits and the disrespect she believes the GLSP lawyers extended to the council. 

Dan White is the white lawyer for McIntosh County. The GLSP lawyers generally think well of White and believe he is a friendly person compared to some other high-up white people in positions of power. White is more inclined to find a compromise in the voting rights lawsuits against the county and agrees to divide McIntosh County into five voting districts. White’s approach clashes with Stebbins’ approach, the lawyer representing the city. 

Mayor Sumner is the newly-elected white mayor of Darien in 1976 who fires seven black city employees in retaliation for the earlier jury discrimination case. The black community fights back, and the employees are rehired. 

Affleck is an attorney with the GLSP, which provides lawyers free-of-charge to low-income individuals in civil or noncriminal cases. He and the other GLSP lawyers befriend Alston, Grovner, and Pinkney and files multiple lawsuits on their behalf related to race discrimination and voting rights in McIntosh. Affleck later represents Alston in his trial for drug dealing. 

Walbert arrives from Atlanta to assist with the Brunswick GLSP’s class action suit in McIntosh County. Walbert is a wealthy revolutionary who cares about human rights. He initiates many voting rights lawsuits across Georgia. To southerners, he seems like a carpetbagger, or a northern opportunist who has come to the South to scam locals.