The Skin I’m In

by

Sharon Flake

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Skin I’m In makes teaching easy.

Akeelma Character Analysis

Akeelma is a fictional character in Maleeka’s writing assignment for English class. Akeelma (whose name is close to Maleeka’s name backwards) is a 13-year-old girl on a slave ship headed for the United States. She lives in filth, and she believes she’s ugly. Maleeka’s writing about Akeelma often parallels her own life: for example, after Maleeka is harassed by two teenage boys who try to kiss her on the street, she writes about Akeelma experiencing the same thing on the ship. Additionally, Akeelma’s relationship with Kinjari, a boy on the boat, mirrors Maleeka’s relationship with Caleb, a boy at her school. Gradually, Maleeka becomes more conscious of the connections between her own life and the stories she’s writing—and thinking about the injustice that Akeelma faces on the ship helps propel Maleeka to stand up to the bullies at school. In this way, the character of Akeelma, and the stories that Maleeka writes about her, help to empower Maleeka and boost her self-esteem.

Akeelma Quotes in The Skin I’m In

The The Skin I’m In quotes below are all either spoken by Akeelma or refer to Akeelma. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bullying and Insecurity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Day in and day out Kinjari eyes me, staring like he sees the sun rising in my eyes. I want to ask him why he looks at me that way. Am I something so beautiful he can’t help but stare? I keep quiet. Beauty is where one finds it, my father used to say. […]

I was sick, bad, for a long while. When I woke up, Kinjari was gone. Dead. “He had the mark. The pocks,” the girl chained to me said, sucking her front teeth like they was soup bones. “The slavers tossed him over the side,” she said.

But this one, she steals my food. Can I trust her with the truth? I don’t know.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Akeelma (speaker), Miss Saunders, Charlese Jones, Caleb Assam, Kinjari, Maleeka’s Dad
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“New clothes, huh?” he says, trying to be smart.

I stop walking and turn to him and ask real smart like, “Why you always picking on me?” I ain’t sure what’s come over me. I guess thinking about Akeelma makes me wonder why people treat others like they’re nothing.

“Chill, Maleeka,” John-John says, strutting down the hall alongside me. He gets quiet, and I hear his big sneakers squeaking every time they hit the floor.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Charlese Jones (speaker), John-John McIntyre (speaker), Maleeka’s Mom, Akeelma
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

Mostly I’m thinking and writing in my diary—our diary, Akeelma’s and mine. Lately it’s hard to know where Akeelma’s thoughts begin and mine end. I mean, I might be starting off with her talking about how scared she is with the smallpox spreading around the ship and killing people. Then I end up the same paragraph with Akeelma saying she’s scared that maybe people will always think she’s ugly. But I’m really talking about myself. I’m scared people will always think I’m ugly.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Caleb Assam, Akeelma, Kinjari
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:

I showed this last part to Miss Saunders. She said this is powerful stuff. “Writing is clearly one of your gifts, Maleeka,” she said. I know it sounds stupid, but when I was leaving Miss Saunders’s classroom, I hugged them papers to my chest like they was some boy I’ve been wanting to press up against for weeks. It feels good doing something not everybody can do.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Miss Saunders, Caleb Assam, Akeelma
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

“All I done for you,” Char says. “You gonna leave me out to dry like this. Wait till later, you ugly, stupid black thing.”

Call me by my name! I hear Akeelma say, and I scream it out, too. “Call me by my name! I am not ugly. I am not stupid. I am Maleeka Madison, and, yeah, I’m black, real black, and if you don’t like me, too bad ‘cause black is the skin I’m in!”

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Charlese Jones (speaker), Miss Saunders, Caleb Assam, Akeelma, Maleeka’s Dad
Page Number: 157-158
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Skin I’m In LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Skin I’m In PDF

Akeelma Quotes in The Skin I’m In

The The Skin I’m In quotes below are all either spoken by Akeelma or refer to Akeelma. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bullying and Insecurity Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

Day in and day out Kinjari eyes me, staring like he sees the sun rising in my eyes. I want to ask him why he looks at me that way. Am I something so beautiful he can’t help but stare? I keep quiet. Beauty is where one finds it, my father used to say. […]

I was sick, bad, for a long while. When I woke up, Kinjari was gone. Dead. “He had the mark. The pocks,” the girl chained to me said, sucking her front teeth like they was soup bones. “The slavers tossed him over the side,” she said.

But this one, she steals my food. Can I trust her with the truth? I don’t know.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Akeelma (speaker), Miss Saunders, Charlese Jones, Caleb Assam, Kinjari, Maleeka’s Dad
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“New clothes, huh?” he says, trying to be smart.

I stop walking and turn to him and ask real smart like, “Why you always picking on me?” I ain’t sure what’s come over me. I guess thinking about Akeelma makes me wonder why people treat others like they’re nothing.

“Chill, Maleeka,” John-John says, strutting down the hall alongside me. He gets quiet, and I hear his big sneakers squeaking every time they hit the floor.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Charlese Jones (speaker), John-John McIntyre (speaker), Maleeka’s Mom, Akeelma
Related Symbols: Clothes
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

Mostly I’m thinking and writing in my diary—our diary, Akeelma’s and mine. Lately it’s hard to know where Akeelma’s thoughts begin and mine end. I mean, I might be starting off with her talking about how scared she is with the smallpox spreading around the ship and killing people. Then I end up the same paragraph with Akeelma saying she’s scared that maybe people will always think she’s ugly. But I’m really talking about myself. I’m scared people will always think I’m ugly.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Caleb Assam, Akeelma, Kinjari
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:

I showed this last part to Miss Saunders. She said this is powerful stuff. “Writing is clearly one of your gifts, Maleeka,” she said. I know it sounds stupid, but when I was leaving Miss Saunders’s classroom, I hugged them papers to my chest like they was some boy I’ve been wanting to press up against for weeks. It feels good doing something not everybody can do.

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Miss Saunders, Caleb Assam, Akeelma
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

“All I done for you,” Char says. “You gonna leave me out to dry like this. Wait till later, you ugly, stupid black thing.”

Call me by my name! I hear Akeelma say, and I scream it out, too. “Call me by my name! I am not ugly. I am not stupid. I am Maleeka Madison, and, yeah, I’m black, real black, and if you don’t like me, too bad ‘cause black is the skin I’m in!”

Related Characters: Maleeka Madison (speaker), Charlese Jones (speaker), Miss Saunders, Caleb Assam, Akeelma, Maleeka’s Dad
Page Number: 157-158
Explanation and Analysis: