Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Tangled Roots: Decoding the history of Black Hair CBC Radio

black people and hair

As an expression of our culture, black hair is as malleable and plastic as our ideas about it. Notice that I have generalised the issue to people in general rather than writing about white people, because misconceptions about what black hair is are also propagated by black people. In fact, I would argue that most white people get the majority of their misconceptions about what black hair from black people. The Jheri curl provided a glossy curly style that became uniquely iconic in its time. The name comes from its inventor, Jheri Redding, a white man from an Illinois farm who turned into one of the 20th century’s leading hair chemists.

Combing while the hair is wet

Today, black women with nappy hair – that is, natural and chemical-free – are desirable despite the popular discourse to the contrary. Think for example of how Lupita Nyong’o has become a household name even though she is nappy and has dark skin. The success of her father’s line led Cottrell Brown to get into the hair care biz as well, helping to develop and launch Just for Me relaxers in the early 1990s—a time when straight and sleek hair was in.

Short Dreadlocks

Wigs such as this were often styled with braided pieces of human hair, wool, palm fibers and other materials set on a thick skullcap. Within the span of three generations, this family has not only created a legacy in the Black hair care space, but also proven that understanding the intimate, and ever-evolving needs of the consumer is the key to longevity. "It's making you a little bit less competitive, potentially, than your peers because you have less time to focus on your work than they do," she said.

Civil rights era

Black hair is diverse, with a range of textures and thicknesses. It often has a curly or spiral shape, and the curls may be loosely or tightly coiled. Washing your natural Afro-textured hair is different from straight hair, as you need to take extra steps to untangle mattes and moisturize the hair. “It was a product used by many in the Black community to make hair much softer and shiny. I found myself beginning to use it.” Eventually Riley stopped using these products as he transitioned to different hairstyles. She learns to love her hair just as it is but there’s no condemnation of the way others choose to wear their hair.

black people and hair

But the true secret sauce, Cottrell Brown shares, was once again creating an intimate relationship with their target audience. “We spoke to the consumers—teen girls—and the consumers’ mothers,” she shares. “We knew mothers would be the ones to purchase the products, but that they were also influenced by their daughters.

Plus, Kimble says, the weight of braids can stress the hair follicles and cause hair to fall out. Experts say that braids are often the culprit of a thinning hairline. Tight or aggressive handling of the hair causes traction alopecia, a form of hair loss, Taylor says.

Styling ideas and tips

In each rendition of her mixed media series, Word crafts a universe centered around the Fulani braid hairstyle, which come from the Fula, Fulani, or FulÉ“e people of the Sahel region. The hairstyle captivates the viewer with its vast volume that emphasizes the design within the braids. The stars braided into the hair define the space created by this structure as celestial. Placed against different paper collaged backdrops, the hairstyle sits at the center of a universe that has been created around each woman in the series. The number of times you need to wash black women’s hair would depend on the curl type (3A, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, or 4C curl type). Williams began styling hair as a teenager, mainly for close friends and himself.

Judge rules that Texas high school legally suspended Black student over hairstyle - PBS NewsHour

Judge rules that Texas high school legally suspended Black student over hairstyle.

Posted: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

A history of modern beauty in four chapters.

Barnes emphasizes this theme of cultural transmission by adapting the concept of the porch chair, noting the porch as a site of Black community making. By linking motifs such as headdresses, Afro picks, and porches, Barnes’s chairs represent a diasporic understanding of Blackness. Barnes brings the cultural and the political aspects into community with each other through his designs. Kenya uses a combination of afro picks, hair combs and fibers to create a headdress.

What sparked interest in this particular industry?

He had been into male barber shops, and they talked about the needs of the male consumer at the time. He also had business partners that had formulas for the products, so he knew he could help sell and elevate what they had already started, and that’s essentially how it all began. The conversation around Black hair has now become politicised, as societal standards of what constitutes "normal" hairstyles continue to exclude Black people. To define your curls' natural texture or to give volume to your hair. During treatment for traction alopecia, a person should opt for low-tension styles that do not pull on the scalp.

Always have a professional stylist perform these treatments in a salon. Perms and relaxers are chemical treatments that straighten the hair permanently until it grows out. These treatments can gradually weaken the hair, and repeated treatments increase the risk of breakage. Curling irons and heated rollers can create loose curls or waves. Each chair in Barnes’ series reflects a different cultural context, asking the viewer to consider the interconnectedness of the relationships that Black people have with their hair and each other.

Two women born in the 1860s, both to parents who had been enslaved, are known for pioneering the African American beauty industry. With an understanding that hair health could improve the lives of African American women, Annie Malone developed products like scalp preparations and hair-growth formulas. With her success, she founded Poro College in 1902 in Missouri, training other Black women to treat and style Black hair. One of her students was Sarah Breedlove, who rose to prominence, under the name Madam C.J. Walker, for her own line of hair-care products and hair school, Lelia College in Indianapolis.

"Too many people still make assumptions that an afro implies some sort of militancy or that wearing dreadlocks means a predilection for smoking pot." "Black people felt compelled to smoothen their hair and texture to fit in easier, and to move in society better and in camouflage almost," says exhibition producer Aaryn Lynch. "Their key is the [bigger] width between the teeth because African-type hair is very fragile," says Dr Sally-Ann Ashton, who curated an afro comb exhibition at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum in 2013. "If the product feels greasy, it's probably not adding moisture inside the hair," LaVar says.

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