Hi! I’m Joy, a Louisiana-born, Nigerian-American writer who’s obsessed with literature, research, and the untold histories of Africa and the Black diaspora. The Braid Blog is where I weave it all together: memory, literature, culture, and the quiet power in our everyday lives. Think of this space as part archive, part altar–always an offering.
I’d love to connect! Feel free to visit my socials below or send me an email xo.
Welcome to The Braid Blog!
The Braid Blog is a literary billet doux to the Black experience, rooted in history, parted with care, and textured with memory. This is where the soft meets the sharp, where lineage speaks in sentences and every strand tells a story. Through art, essays, book reviews, and reflections on everything from politics to plaits, I’m weaving a space where we can feel, remember, and reimagine ourselves out loud. Whether you’re deep conditioning your boundaries, scrolling through joy, or just detangling the day—you belong here.
A space for the poems that live at the root. Return each month for a new verse.
January 2026 Feature:
Let Me Handle My Business, Damn
by Morgan Parker
Took me awhile to learn the good words
make the rain on my window grown
and sexy now I'm in the tub holding down
that on-sale Bordeaux pretending
to be well adjusted I am on that real
jazz shit sometimes I run the streets
sometimes they run me I'm the body
of the queen of my hood filled up
with bad wine bad drugs mu shu pork
sick beats what more can I say to you
I open my stylish legs I get my swagger
back let men with gold teeth bow to my tits
and the blisters on my feet I become electric
I'm a patch of grass the stringy roots
you call home or sister if you want
I could scratch your eyes make hip-hop die again
I'm on that grown woman shit before I break
the bottle's neck I pour a little out: I am fallen
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Step into Spike Lee’s Crooklyn through the eyes of a little Black girl carrying weight she never should’ve held. This reflection unbraids hyper-independence, misogynoir, and the quiet traumas we normalize in Black families—revealing how generational patterns shape our children long before we notice.
Let’s rewind to the Muses—five sisters who sang Hercules into legend and now rise again in Farrah Rochon’s Bemused. This Greek mythology retelling fuses Disney nostalgia, Black girl magic, and divine sisterhood, reminding us that unity isn’t weakness. It’s the truest form of power.
🇳🇬 As Nigeria celebrates 65 years of independence, I’m compelled to appreciate the culture that has shaped my life in countless ways. I decided to reflect on the traditions that make our culture so unique. For this milestone, I’ve chosen my top three favorite parts of being Nigerian. Dive in and celebrate with me!
¡Vamos a bailar! Dive into the vibrant world of AfroLatinx music–from samba and rumba to salsa, merengue, mambo, cumbia, reggaeton, and Son Cubano. Discover how African, Spanish, and Indigenous traditions shaped each genre, fueling dance, storytelling, and rhythmic evolution that shaped Latin music history and continues to inspire dance floors worldwide.
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A literary billet-doux to the African world.
