Zélie belongs to a class of magic practitioners called maji, and the kosidán ruling class oppresses them.

The old graybeard suddenly ceased crying "maji," and darted forward to where I stood on the bale of cotton.

She writes that the trauma Zélie and other maji go through is similar to that felt by black communities who are victims of police brutality.

To make the message more appealing, Ngwale provided his followers with magic medicine that would allegedly turn German bullets into water (maji in Swahili).

Maji praises Mukand Sahib for the good fortune he brought the family.