See Me, Hear Me, Know Me

A Powerful Thing

By Wednesday, Makena has met most of the kids from her remote classes in person. Social studies becomes her favorite class after she and Adeline team up for a group project. They meet for lunch and walk to algebra together afterward, only to find a substitute, Ms. Allyn, at Mr. Djondo’s desk. Ms. Allyn races through attendance without really looking at anyone and mispronounces Makena’s name as “Macky-na.” Makena wants to correct her, but the lesson has already started.

Partway through class, Ms. Allyn calls on “Adeline” to answer a question, looking straight at Makena. Makena glances around, confused. Adeline and Makena are the only two brown-skinned girls in the class, but they’re not even the same brown. She raises her hand to correct Ms. Allyn, but Ms. Allyn abruptly tells her to stop disrupting class and turns back to the board. Makena is stunned; no teacher has ever cared so little about getting her name, or anyone’s, right. It leaves her thinking hard about how no two Black people look alike, and how little Ms. Allyn seemed to notice.

Walking out after class, Adeline admits this isn’t the first time she’s been swapped for another Black girl at school. The two agree they don’t look anything alike.

Later, Makena runs into Najee, who tells her that a name is a powerful thing. His is “Nah-jay,” not “Nah-jee,” and people shorten or mangle it constantly. He was named after his father, a Purple Heart veteran who fought in Iraq, and Najee wears the mix-ups with more patience than Makena feels she could manage.

That night, Makena sprawls across her bed, still stuck on the mix-up and on Najee’s words. She has four names, Makena, Lilias, Cook, and Williams, and she looks up her own for the first time: Makena means “happy one” in Swahili. She can’t understand why Ms. Allyn couldn’t tell her and Adeline apart, and staring at her mismatched shoes, she gets an idea.

The next morning, Makena photographs her two different black shoes side by side and posts them with a caption asking why being Black is supposed to make her and Adeline interchangeable. Comments pile up fast, Amari and Najee among them, and by lunchtime it is the most people have ever reacted to one of her posts.

On Friday, while Amari has basketball practice, Makena heads to Cherry Blossoms to meet Evette and Maritza. Maritza seems lost among the racks, so Makena dives in, pulling a bright graphic top, kente-cloth-patterned leggings, and a denim jacket for her to try. Evette hunts down a pair of brown ankle boots to finish the look. When Maritza steps out of the fitting room, everyone agrees the outfit is a hit. Evette jokes that Makena should start a YouTube channel. Maritza can’t buy the clothes today, but she asks Makena to send the photo so she can remember exactly how to put it all together.