(H)afrocentric Comics, Volumes 1–4

September 1, 2017
Originally published in four separate volumes, this graphic novel introduces the outspoken college-student revolutionary Naima Pepper and her friends. Naima is a mixed-race, half-black, half-white, student struggling to reconcile the inequalities that she sees on the campus of the fictional Ronald Reagan University and in the surrounding neighborhoods of Oakland, California. She decides to start an online anti-gentrification movement, Mydiaspora.com, envisioning it as a social networking space for black people to congregate when they tire of "white folks." To raise funds, Naima and her friends decide to throw a concert. Naima and her best friend, Renee, go on a quest to organize support for the concert, including a humorous meeting in which they try to entice a white, dreadlock-wearing hipster couple to contribute solar panels. Following this, Naima is in need of a senior internship to graduate. When she can't find an internship that suits a revolutionary, her fairy godmother (who looks like Fannie Lou Hamer) creates one as a "racial interpreter" that finds Naima answering stereotypical questions asked by white people about black people. The novel hosts a multicultural cast of college students who engage politically, blending satire and history for a recipe of topics millennials don't shy from. Sporting a tank top with the word "Ally" written above a photo of John Brown, perched on top of the literal soap box she preaches from, Naima Pepper is a force to be reckoned with. Readers will be smitten with Naima, and they will hope for more of her. (Graphic novel. 14-adult)

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September 1, 2017

Naima, who is biracial and Afrocentric, yearns for revolution amid her fellow Eurocentric students at Ronald Reagan University. Wearing a T-shirt of abolitionist John Brown and conjuring conversations with heroes Malcolm X and Fannie Lou Hamer, Naima decides to fight gentrification and escalating rents by creating the social networking site Mydiaspora.com. She enlists eccentric friends and locals to help out, but setbacks lead to varied success. In a second story, she tries an internship as a "racial interpreter" but is caught between being frank and accomodating her white supervisor, with whom she disagrees on most things. Inspired partly by Aaron McGruder's Boondocks, Smith (web series "Sasha & Condi") aims to write from a feminist perspective about millennials of color squeezed among cultures. Her characters depict individuals who simultaneously wish to blend in and break out of social norms, while her masterly script satirizes attitudes black and white alike, trendy-chic niche preoccupations, political activism (note slogans on background signs throughout), idealism, and gender stereotypes. First-timers Nelson and Hampton provide realistic, energetic black-and-white drawings. VERDICT Rebels, phonies, fringe-mongers, and the simply clueless take wry hits in Smith's insightful series. Culture watchers, teen through adult, will find their presumptions challenged as well as much to recognize in themselves. [Previewed in Douglas Rednour's "Comics Cross Over," LJ 6/15/17, p. 40-46.--Ed.]--MC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018

Gr 10 Up-Naima is a student at Ronald Reagan University, where she strives to live up to her dreams of being a revolutionary, black, feminist activist. Determined and confident, Naima brings together the people in her life, such as her best friend Renee, who is queer; her apathetic brother Miles; and their Chicano friend El, to help her change the world. Packed with references to significant counterculture and African American movements, this graphic novel (begun as a webcomic) moves incredibly quickly among genres and topics. Intersectionality and the divide between privileged "enlightenment" and radical race relations are the backbone of the whip-smart, wildly original comic. Satire (an internship opportunity for black interpreters for white people, a protest sign-wielding fairy godmother) simultaneously diffuses and highlights the heavy reality of the issues discussed. The art is approachable but not predictable, with close-ups of angry faces and fluid backgrounds that add to the raw feeling of the work. The result of so many great things packed into a small package is that the book sometimes falters under its own weight, making some pages hard to follow. VERDICT While cultural references may leave younger teens and those unfamiliar with social justice frustrated, those discovering a desire for activism will be eager to learn from Naima. Highly recommended for collections serving older teens.-Amy Diegelman, formerly at Vineyard Haven Public Library, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2018
This timely and humorous but flawed collection follows the trials and tribulations of six young people of color navigating structural racism, intra-community strife, and capitalism in modern America. Undergraduate revolutionary Naima devises a 21st-century fix for gentrification: a website where “black folks can up and exodus” when white people become too much to handle. With help from a crew of friends—not all of whom are sold on her politics—Naima puts on a block party to fund her site and stop a neighborhood icon from being evicted, but soon must face the unintended consequences of her activism. The plot abruptly shifts to magical realism in the final chapter. Within a relentlessly goofy send-up of the self-absorbed progressive movement/lifestyle, Smith looks to inspire readers to take strong political stances and keep their senses of humor.. Nelson’s character design is, in places, disturbingly uncanny and stiff, while Hampton’s unintuitive lettering and balloon placement make the reader labor to tell who’s talking and in what order. There’s a charming spirit and guiding intelligence at work, with messages for readers of all identities to chew on, but the uneven execution will limit its reach.