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.
May 2026 Feature:
Springtime On The Road to Nabeep
by Angifi Proctor Dladla
On the road to Nabeep I gasped and stopped
abruptly right in the moment – the keys
of the sun opening, without breaking,
the colours of Namaqualand.
The whole land suddenly exploded
into a magical panorama of purple,
yellow, orange, white, violet, blue.
Rocks and thatched roofs afar dazzled
with life. I suspect even the heads
and chins of herbalists and farmers
were part of the festival of flowers.
If heaven has streets of gold,
rain of milk, snow of honey;
the new arrivals’ destruction of Earth
is a shrill cry to the Almighty.
Men of men had never daydreamed
about heaven; Namaqualand is still a melody of colours:
Bees, birds, red earth; beetles, faeries, butterflies.
I plunged into the Opening Ceremony with the San’s song,
“Oh Gxaraken flower, are you opening?”
In my head I heard the aroma of chorus,
“We are opening Ncku-kyam flower.”
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In Sweet Heat (2025), Bolu Babalola delivers romance with depth–intimate, messy, and impossible to ignore. Kiki Banjo thought she outran her past, but one reunion cracks everything open: love, pride, ambition, and the life she’s been carefully constructing. Consider this your invitation to read this spicy title responsibly.
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!
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A literary billet-doux to the African world.
