Whether its activist Angela Davis’s Afro or hip-hop diva Lil’ Kim’s “weave of the week,” black hair has long had the power to set trends and reflect societal attitudes.
Since February is Black History Month — a time to remember important people and events that shaped the lives of African Americans – we thought it was an ideal time to explore how hairstyles have been interwoven into that history. It is a story that continues to evolve. Here is a look back at some of the key events and people who shaped the black hairstory.
This style, from Africa in the 1950s, might have originated on the west coast of Africa centuries earlier.
1444: Europeans trade on the west coast of Africa with people wearing elaborate hairstyles, including locks, plaits and twists.
1619: First slaves brought to Jamestown; African language, culture and grooming tradition begin to disappear.
1700s: Calling black hair “wool,” many whites dehumanize slaves. The more elaborate African hairstyles cannot be retained.
1800s: Without the combs and herbal treatments used in Africa, slaves rely on bacon grease, butter and kerosene as hair conditioners and cleaners. Lighter-skinned, straight-haired slaves command higher prices at auction than darker, more kinky-haired ones. Internalizing color consciousness, blacks promote the idea that blacks with dark skin and kinky hair are less attractive and worth less.
1865: Slavery ends, but whites look upon black women who style their hair like white women as well-adjusted. “Good” hair becomes a prerequisite for entering certain schools, churches, social groups and business networks.
1880: Metal hot combs, invented in 1845 by the French, are readily available in the United States. The comb is heated and used to press and temporarily straighten kinky hair.
Madame C.J. Walker
1900s: Madame C.J. Walker develops a range of hair-care products for black hair. She popularizes the press-and-curl style. Some criticize her for encouraging black women to look white.
1910: Walker is featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the first American female self-made millionaire.
1920s: Marcus Garvey, a black nationalist, urges followers to embrace their natural hair and reclaim an African aesthetic.
1954: George E. Johnson launches the Johnson Products Empire with Ultra Wave Hair Culture, a “permanent” hair straightener for men that can be applied at home. A women’s chemical straightener follows.
Cicely Tyson
1962: Actress Cicely Tyson wears cornrows on the television drama “East Side/West Side.”
1966: Model Pat Evans defies both black and white standards of beauty and shaves her head.
Diahann Carroll
1968: Actress Diahann Carroll is the first black woman to star in a television network series, “Julia.” She is a darker version of the all-American girl with straightened, curled hair.
1970: Angela Davis becomes an icon of Black Power with her large afro.
1971: Melba Tolliver is fired from the ABC affiliate in New York for wearing an afro while covering Tricia Nixon’s wedding.
1977: The Jheri curl explodes on the black hair scene. Billed as a curly perm for blacks, the ultra-moist hairstyle lasts through the 1980s.
1979: Braids and beads cross the color line when Bo Derek appears with cornrows in the movie “10.”
Grace Jones
1980: Model-actress Grace Jones sports her trademark flat-top fade.
1988: Spike Lee exposes the good hair/bad hair light-skinned/dark-skinned schism in black American in his movie “School Daze.”
1990: “Sisters love the weave,” “Essence” magazine declares. A variety of natural styles and locks also become more accepted.
1997: Singer Erykah Badu poses on the cover of her debut album “Baduizm” with her head wrapped, ushering in an eclectic brand of Afrocentrism.
1998: Carson Inc., creator of Dark & Lovely and Magic Shave for black men, acquires the black-owned beauty company Johnson Products of Chicago in 1998. L’Oreal purchases Carson two years later and merges it with Soft Sheen.
1999: “People” magazine names lock-topped Grammy award-winning artist Lauryn Hill one of its 50 Most Beautiful People.
2001: Rapper Lil’ Kim wears a platinum blonde weave, while singer Macy Gray sports a new-school afro. Some black women perm, some press, and others go with natural twists, braids and locks.
Amari Diaw
2003: New Bedford, Mass. Dance teacher Amy Fernandes’ refuses to allow 4-year-old Amari Diaw to participate in her ballet dance recital along with the other children in her class who have been practicing for the exciting event because she requires the girls to pull back their hair into a bun. Amari’s mom put Amari’s very curly hair into cornrows and pulled it back into a bun. Fernandes, however, insisted that the braids be removed and that Amari’s hair be pulled back straight into a bun.
2006: Baltimore Police Department’s new, more rigid professional appearance standards prohibit such hairstyles as cornrows, dreadlocks and twists. These natural hairstyles are deemed to be “extreme” and a “fad” by the department.
2007: MSNBC Radio Host Don Imus loses his job when he calls the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team “some nappy-headed hos.”
2006: Black hair-care is a billion-dollar industry.
The New Yorker
2008: “The New Yorker” draws heat when a cover photo portrays Michelle Obama with an Afro and an AK 47 machine gun and and Barack Obama in a turban doing the fist bump. Many felt the cartoon reinforces negative stereotypes about both Muslims and natural hair.
2009: Comic Chris Rock unveils “Good Hair” at the Sundance Film Festival, exploring the way black hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of black people.
“Good Hair” Trailer
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under It's a Curly World, Straightening, Super Kinky. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
This is so great. Thank you so much for posting this! There are so many people out there who don’t understand why black people have so many hair issues and how it differs from the issues all curlies have.
Being bi-racial, I grew up being told that I had bad hair by Hispanic friends and that I had pubic hair by white kids in school. My mom put a relaxer in my hair at 13, and around then black girls would say that I had good hair, because it was “softer” and would grow long. I didn’t like the chemicals and how unhealthy my hair began to look after six years, so I shaved my head. Went bald for three years and then began to grow it in.
I’ve now been natural now for over 15 years. In that time, I was told that my hair was inappropriate for the office. My hair was has always been a concern when preparing for job interviews since its been made clear that my natural hair could label me as an unworthy employee.
Learning to love my hair in this world that outright deemed me ugly or unprofessional was very hard. This history breakdown gives a few factual/tangible examples of what black women have had to deal with over the years and where it originated.
It’s really great to see that people are finally starting to address these issues. It would be great if little girls could grow up just loving who they are and not have the same experiences that I, and many other black women, did.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:20 am
[...] NaturallyCurly.com has a pretty neat article that pinpoints certain main events in African American hair history. It’s pretty neat if you want to take a look. [...]
February 17th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Excellent article, I am so glad to see that people are now more accepting of their natural hair. I am bi-racial and I have large curley hair and I use to perm it and it would damage my hair, Its been 5 years since I re-grew my hair and I wear it out big and curley, it’s who I am and I am proud of the way God made it. I pray that many women of all colors become accepting of who they are and if they want to perm their hair, thats ok too.
March 1st, 2009 at 7:34 am
Impactful, educational and an excellent reminder that we are all wonderfully and beautifully made by our creator and that we, our skin colors and natural hair whether it be straight, kinky, curly or wavy are not mistakes! I remember my elementry school days (dazes) being the ridicule of the other “colored” girls (that’s what we were called back then to late 1960’s) for having long hair, fair skin and freckles! I was a walking target…but you know what after many years I realized I was fine just the way I was, freckles and all! I’ve learned to embrace my freckles and curly hair. I’m so thankful that my college age daughter embraces her 3C,4A beautiful hair. My Grand-Mother’s motto was any hair you have on your head is “Good Hair”!
October 25th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:33 am
[...] exactly where that story is going. The idea that black hair is unsightly and unmanageable has been reinforced by the majority culture since slavery. Comparing black women and relaxing with white women and the quest for blondeness, as Rock has [...]