Shana Character Analysis in On the Come Up

A dancer at Midtown School of the Arts. Shana is barely on Bri's radar until Bri discovers that Shana is Malik's girlfriend, at which point Bri begins to see Shana as naïve and shallow—especially since Shana likes Canadian bacon, a preference that offends Bri. Shana is a founding member of the unofficial black and Latinx student coalition at Midtown, and she attempts to convince Bri to be their spokesperson and allow them to use Malik's footage of the Long and Tate incident to publicize the racial profiling that goes on at Midtown. Most of Bri's dislike for Shana has to do with the fact that she's jealous of Shana for dating Malik, whom Bri has had a crush on for years. While Shana does appear shallow at points, she also demonstrates great skill at organizing, public speaking, and generally articulating the ways that students of color are targeted at Midtown.

Shana Character Timeline in On the Come Up

The timeline below shows where the character Shana appears in On the Come Up. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...phone—Jay braided it over the weekend—and sees Malik coming toward her, talking to someone. It's Shana, a dancer from the bus, and Bri ascertains that Shana is coming with them for... (full context)

...the only place where this doesn't hold true. Big Sal, the owner, teases Malik about Shana and takes their order. Bri is aghast when Shana adds Canadian bacon to their pizza... (full context)

...gets famous—he's known her since she was afraid of Big Bird as a little kid. Shana howls with laughter, but Bri doesn't find this funny at all. She pulls out her... (full context)

After a few minutes, Shana says that she wants to talk to Bri: she and a few others have been... (full context)

Trauma, Poverty, and Childhood Theme Icon

Bri and Malik ignore each other all day, and Malik sits with Shana on the bus home. Sonny moans that it sucks when Bri and Malik fight, but... (full context)

...he grabs her arm. This is even worse for Bri, and she tells herself that Shana's boyfriend is touching her. As Malik asks Bri what all this is really about, Bri... (full context)

...Sonny and Malik get on the bus, they raise their eyebrows. Malik sits next to Shana and Sonny sits down in front of Bri and wiggles his eyebrows. Bri gets off... (full context)

Bri, Malik, Shana, Sonny, and Curtis run until they can't hear the sirens. Malik shoves Curtis and asks... (full context)

...the coalition achieve their goals. He says they'll get real cops as security now, and Shana concurs. She says that Long and Tate were probably back because parents believed Bri was... (full context)

Shana asks why Bri is okay with the videos of her "acting ratchet" at the Ring... (full context)

Finally, Malik asks what happened, and Bri reminds him of Shana. Malik insists the kiss "just happened," which Bri says is silly. She thinks that there's... (full context)

...isn't at school: there are four armed cops serving as security guards. Bri thinks that Shana was right about this, and she’s happy to go home at the end of the... (full context)

...to Malik. She arrives with Sonny, Jay, Aunt 'Chelle, and Aunt Gina. Malik stands with Shana, holding protest posters. (full context)

Shana speaks. She says that black and Latinx students were consistently targeted by Long and Tate... (full context)

...own table, as their moms are horrible restaurant patrons. Malik leaves to hang out with Shana, but Bri feels like he's walking away from her. (full context)

...of Bri and Bri puts in headphones so she can ignore Sonny. On the sidewalk, Shana stops Bri and asks her to attend the coalition's meeting with Dr. Cook after school... (full context)