Hair has long since played a monumental role within the African and African American diaspora. Backed by centuries worth of history and serving as a prominent cultural marker, hair itself transcends simply being a biological matter, but rather a social and historical one as well. In fact, when looking to understand the heterogeneous nature of the Black community itself, if there’s one defining characteristic to look to, it’s certainly how one rocks their ‘do. Whether natural or relaxed, in braids or bobs, each of these
stylistic choices are preceded by ancestors who found solace in expression via hair. In fact, hair served greater functions even outside of simple stylistic flair, proving to be a prominent mode of both survival and resistance of greater oppressive systems.
Delving further, the notion of Black hair transcending mere expressions of culture and personal style can be examined as early as the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Given the vehement effort to strip enslaved individuals of their culture so as to dehumanize them and render them powerless, it should come as little surprise that their appearances were also heavily regulated in order to further these aims - though not always in ways one might suspect. Hair was a staple of Black identity, though it was admittedly something that White slave owners knew little about. The various textures, styles and length of African American hair posed a unique challenge to those who enslaved them. Fortunately, the styling of Black hair was a largely communal venture as socialization and quality time were inherently built into the act of doing one’s own hair or perhaps even doing the hair of another. This was especially evident in the dynamics of enslaved men, where rituals such as aiding one another in shaving and cutting their hair were maintained. Such practices were allowed to thrive due to White slaveowner’s lack of knowledge regarding how to properly maintain Black hair. In this way, the prevailing dismissal and understanding of Blackness and Black culture by White slave owners proved to be a most fortunate reality for Black Americans.
That said, the latter did not always prove to be the case. At times, issues of envy arose among White women with regards to Black women’s hair. Their fears were rooted in Black women bearing any physical similarities to those of White women - i.e., long, silky hair. When this was the case, the wives of slave owners could be observed taking drastic action for fear that, if they did not, their husbands or sons would involve themselves sexually with these women. Authors Shane White and Graham White spoke of this within their piece entitled “Slave Hair and African American Culture in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries,” writing “As a result of the warped sexual dynamics of an antebellum plantation, the mutilation of an African American female's hair was usually an action directed at whites rather than at the victim herself, although doubtless its import was not lost on the slaves in the quarter. Whatever the motivations for these incidents may have been, they occurred frequently enough to become part of the remembered fabric of slavery, passed on from generation to generation”.
Despite this looming threat of hair marred by resentful slave owning mistresses, enslaved Black individuals still crafted hair care routines to maintain the health and beauty of their locks. Various forms of protective styling could be seen within the processes of wrapping, threading, plaiting and cornrowing their hair. The origin of each of these methods could be traced back to Africa, conveying a continuation of the various cultures from which the enslaved had been stripped. Even so, it should be noted that by doing things like cornrowing escape routes for runaway slaves into their scalps, the enslaved communally created uniquely African American practices. This is but one of many acts that could be seen as central to the configuration of a distinctive African American culture.
Along the lines of taking liberties with hair styling, another event of note was the surge in usage of head coverings within the 18th century. These items were meant to denote the status of enslaved women as - you guessed it - slaves. Though they served practical purposes such as protection from the often overbearing sun and the sweat that came as a result of the heat, they primarily spoke to their position within society. However, while required to wear these pieces, Black women put their own twist upon such an act so as to make it their own. White and White assert, “African American women acquired these items of apparel through routine distribution, as gifts, or through purchases with money they were able to accumulate by farming small plots or hiring themselves out. ...It is likely, too, that the greater involvement of nineteenth-century slave women in plantation textile manufacture meant that they were able to make headkerchiefs themselves, incorporating in the cloth their distinctive color combinations and designs. ...The often brilliantly colored bandanna or headkerchief offered an alternative means of self-adornment and aesthetic display”. In this way, enslaved women created an alternate significance for the pieces they were required to wear. No longer did they embody shame and subhuman status; rather, they spoke to freedom of expression.
Perhaps one might see this as a miniscule means of rebellion, though if anything is to be learned from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, it’s that all forms of resistance proved to be of necessity in some way, shape or form. Being intentional with headwrap choices allowed these individuals to counter the consistent dehumanization to which they were subjected, making choices that suited them and their tastes rather than those of their masters. These were, what I like to call, “personal victories”.
With all of this in mind, upon realizing the prominent function head coverings and bandanas served by being both a means of protection and reclamation, I became determined to learn how to properly sport them. Doing so continuously reminded me of the innovative nature of those who took to wearing them as a requirement, only then to turn them into a tool for personal empowerment. They highlighted the resilience of those who had been enslaved - an energy and history I wanted to not only channel, but honor. Having been far more familiar with the prominence of the afro within the 60s and 70s serving as not only a stylistic statement but a socio-poltiical one as well, learning more about the historical function of headwraps for enslaved Black women opened my eyes to the power of reclamation. To turn one’s own harrowing circumstances into an opportunity to exercise agency was (and quite frankly still is) an act often taken by African Americans so as to make larger statements. More of then not, for Black individuals, these statements are about combating beauty standards rooted in Whiteness. The act of reclaiming these accessories by contemporary communities speaks to the continued effort to challenge aesthetics attributed to eurocentric standards. We continue to fight the fight of our ancestors by doing so, highlighting their ever-lasting impact upon those who have descended from them.
Though wearing headwraps of various colors and prints was certainly a pillar in creating and maintaining a connection to those who came before me, this was a choice made in tandem with the act of my embracing my natural hair following years of chemical straightening. This was a journey undertaken to discover more about myself - physically, sure, but ultimately ancestrally. Being dedicated to my 'do proved to be a form of personal protest; the kind, i like to think, my ancestors took to devoting themselves to as well. How one styles their hair has long since been socialized and politicized, so my decision to don headwraps and freely display my afro-textured hair has allowed me to harness my agency as those who were enslaved sought to do and, in various cases, succeeding in doing. Of course, this is not merely limited to the decisions I have specifically made in embracing my kinky, coily locks. Other styling choices rooted in one's own preferences are to be celebrated too, as Hair inherently emphasizes the varied and versatile nature of Blackness itself.
It is with this history in mind that it becomes apparent what a true means of connection hair can be not only amidst the Black community, but to those who came before us. While the particulars of the external circumstances have shifted between the lived realities of our ancestors and our own more contemporary experiences, it can still be said that hair serves various functions - namely, self expression and survival. Furthermore, the beauty of hair from a socio-cultural standpoint lies in the many differences it encompasses, while still being founded upon and born out of similarity. Different hairstyles are simply a means of expressing one’s identity in a way that feels most authentic to them. For Black individuals, sporting their hair how they would like is not only a sociopolitical statement, but an ode to their ancestors.
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