OSHÚN AND ME

Themes of heritage, community, and identity intertwine in this love letter to braids that centers on a young disabled Afro-Latine girl.

Sunday is hair day in Yadira’s house. Mami sections and braids Yadira’s hair, making intricate patterns and adding gold bands and cowrie shells, including one that hangs right on top of Yadira’s forehead. Mami tells her the shells invoke the power and magic of Oshún, a Yoruba goddess who was created to provide “what the people and the land needed most: love, kindness, and beauty.” In a time of peril, cowrie shells helped Oshún save her people, and Mami draws on that strength with the shells in Yadira’s braids, taking protective styling to a whole new—or perhaps old—level. The next day, starting at a new school, Yadira lets Oshún’s guidance bolster her as she meets new friends, each with their own styles of beautiful braids. Warm is the best description for Harris’ palette, which captures a wide range of sumptuous brown skin tones, illuminates everything from edge combs to mobility aids (Yadira uses a wheelchair and a walker), and fills each spread with radiant yellows. Complementing the art, Nelson’s text draws from deep cultural roots to enrich the everyday intimacy of wash day and fuel the sparks of community connection. The visual narrative’s focus on a disabled protagonist seamlessly weaves another welcome dimension of intersectional storytelling into an already intricate identity braid.

Pure, unadulterated joy.