Jaylene Clark Owens, a Philadelphia-based actor and poet, has released her new children’s book, “A Black Girl and Her Braids,” published by Penguin Random House. The book is an extension of her poem with the same title, serving as a heartfelt tribute to Black girls and the special significance of their braided hairstyles.
It celebrates the beauty, cultural connection, and enduring strength, the “magic,” found in Black girls and their braids.
In an interview with Blavity, Owens opened up about why she turned the poem into a book, saying, “A couple of reasons. One, I had actually had an idea for a different book that was directly inspired by my goddaughter.”
She pitched that initial story idea in an attempt to secure a literary agent, but nothing came of that story. However, that process led her to the person who would become my agent, Jania, whom she knew from middle school and high school.
After she agreed to represent Owens, Jania suggested that something might come of her initial book idea within a year. Despite that, a year passed with no developments.
She recounted, “But then, when I saw how many people were sharing videos of their little Black girls dancing to my poem online, I was like, ‘Maybe I will do a children’s book adapting this poem.’ Because clearly, I’m seeing it already resonating with so many Black women and girls.
And I still wanted to do something for my goddaughter and her sister, who is my niece. I was like, ‘This would be perfect. This would satisfy all my desires to create something for them.’ And then I also wanted to speak to all the little girls who I see online dancing to the poem.”
The poem’s inspiration stems from the Owens’ lifelong experience with braids. The idea solidified in July 2021 while she was visiting her best friend in Los Angeles. After getting medium knotless braids, she felt a powerful surge of beauty and confidence.
This experience led to the realization, “Being a Black girl in her braids is really a special feeling, and I wanna write about this.” During the trip, she recorded the first lines of a song on her iPhone and committed to writing the complete poem after returning home, which she successfully did.
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Owen’s book has since gained traction, which she described as very surprising. She said, “Nothing like that to that extent had happened with my work before. People have shared my videos, but this was different because people were using my words.
When Kandi Burruss shared my work, that was top-tier. She has written so many songs that are Grammy Award-winning. And when she shared it, this was the time when her ‘Legs, Hips, Body’ song went viral. It was very special.”
She continued, “I always tell the story about Tia Mowry. I literally used to write about her and Tamera as my heroes in elementary school. Every single time they asked us to write an essay about heroes, I would write about them. So it’s just very full circle that now, not only has Tia used the poem, but her hair company is one of the sponsors for the book launch. They’re sponsoring four of the stops, and they’re doing a lot of great things for this book, and I’m thrilled. I’m over the moon.”
Going forward, Owens aspires to have her book developed into an animated series or a film. She also intends to write additional books and visit schools to read to children and promote her work.
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