Freedom Braids
Illustrations by Oboh Moses
Lantana Publishing
Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
first published in the U.K.
2024
32 pages
ISBN: 9781915244802
Freedom Braids is the story of a young girl named Nemy who lived in Columbia on a plantation that harvested sugar cane. The author’s note explains her story is based on people who were taken from Africa and enslaved in North and South America. In Nemy’s case, she escapes with a group of women led by one known as “Big Mother,” a slave who leads them to freedom.
The braids the women wove in their hair represented paths to freedom, and even where Spanish troops were encamped. A style called “El Undihito” was used for women who hid gold and seeds in their braids, These seeds were transported and used to plant crops when they arrived on free soil. The people fled to the mountains where they could hide in the dense forests in freedom. They built “palenques,” or communities, and often would help others escape to join them.
Beautiful art by Oboh Moses captures the women braiding each other’s hair by the light of a fire. In one spread, the darkness of the forest at night is stunning in black and colors of dark blue. As the page turns, it is sunrise as Nemy looks to the mountains, the back of her head dominant to highlight her braids that zigzag like the river in front of her. The dark blues and black are replaced by hues of purple, pink and green with a blue river winding down the mountain. Nemy and the women reach freedom, “And in the light of a new dawn, she found a way home.”
It is a rare experience to encounter such a powerful picture book. Its beauty is only eclipsed by the amazing story told by a master storyteller, Monique Duncan. The end pages feature each of the braided hairstyles.
Freedom Braids is a MUST HAVE, MUST READ for everyone of all ages. Libraries should plan on purchasing multiple copies as this will be a popular check-out.
The most highly of recommended! Ages 3 and up.
