“This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store. And one night he had caught Walter standing behind Janie and brushing the back of his hand back and forth across the loose end of her braid ever so lightly so as to enjoy the feel of it without Janie knowing what he was doing. Joe was at the back of the store and Walter didn’t see him. He felt like rushing forth with the meat knife and chopping off the offending hand. That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all.” (p. 55)

Janie’s hair seems to hold great power for her husband Joe. What might Janie’s hair represent to him? What might it represent to Janie herself?

Watch the trailer for Chris Rock’s “Good Hair,” and this Oscar-nominated short film “Hair Love.” Then go online and do some reading and viewing on what “good hair” means in Black communities (you might also have an experience of this in your lived experience). Respond in any way you are moved to, and share what you know / knew / or have recently found out about this issue, what your thoughts are, and how you link it to Janie’s image in the novel…