Black hair has always been heavily policed in America. In 1786, the Tignon Law was passed in Louisiana, which decreed that all Black women were to cover their hair so as to not upstage white women. At that time, Afro-Creole women in Louisiana wore full, textured hairstyles embellished with feathers, beads, ribbons, and rare jewels. White men were constantly in awe of their exotic beauty, and white women of the ruling class grew livid. As a result, the governor outlawed Black women from displaying “excessive attention to dress” and required them to wear scarves over their hair as a means of displaying that they belonged to the slave class. Black hair media is political.
In addition to producing important projects and designing clothing that celebrates all body types, she is now relaunching her haircare line, longtime friend and hairstylist, it was specially formulated to promote Black hair health and involved extensive research. “Being able to create the line with one of my best friends who’s also our consumer has been one of the most gratifying experiences in my career," said Sims. "There’s a deeper connection to the process of developing products that are for us by us.”
But Black women brilliantly clapped back. Freed and enslaved women alike reemerged with elaborately tied head wraps made of exquisite fabrics and adorned with majestic broaches and decorative statement pieces. They subverted the ruling class’s fragility into today’s equivalent of runway fashion. Black hair media is political.
Still, the obsession with controlling Black hair remains pervasive in our society today. Black women and girls are scrutinized and subjected to body terrorism in ways that make it virtually impossible to comfortably move through life. As a Black woman with big, full hair, I’m constantly bombarded with unsolicited commentary. Worse, I’ve had absolute strangers reach out to run their fingers through my hair as if I belonged in a petting zoo. Perhaps if there were more diverse representation of Afrocentric beauty in media, Black hair wouldn’t be such a spectacle under the white gaze.
Instead, the entertainment, fashion, and beauty industries promote anti-Blackness by elevating Eurocentric standards of beauty as the default, pressuring us to conform if we are to be deemed dependable, desirable, or worthy of dignity.
We are rapidly unlearning the ways in which we were taught to hate ourselves, while resisting daily microaggressions intended to break our spirit. Legislative protections like the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act are shielding Black people from hair-based discrimination. The strong figures in the media that we do have give us permission to take up space by refusing to shrink themselves. Black hair media is influential.