The artist and curator June Canedo was nine years old when she left behind her home in rural Brazil for South Carolina, where she became the first Brazilian third-grader in the county. It took seven years of photographing in each place, but Canedo has finally told the story of her upbringing, from being the only member of her family with a social security number to moving seven times in eight years. Her new book is tellingly titled Mara Kuya—the Tupi word for passionflower, a Brazilian seed said to treat depression, anxiety, insomnia, and anger. It’s deeply personal, with anecdotes like the first time Canedo saw a pair of Nikes, which her cousin fished out of a dumpster. But for Canedo, it’s bigger than just herself. “Kids with undocumented family members become lawyers, accountants, and nurses right around the time they learn to say their first few sentences in English,” she writes, citing research that children are twice as likely to have mental health issues when their parents aren’t protected from deportation. Take a look inside the book, here.
