Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America

301 Pages·2014·4.42 MB·English

by  Ayana Byrd

Praise for Hair Story
“An engaging look at what has become a major status symbol among
African-Americans … an impressive work of cultural history.”
—BookPage
“Hair Story presents an absorbing rendition of American history told
through Black hair. In prose that is both humorous and haunting, the
authors manage to bring vividly to life a subject most would consider
inconsequential. After reading this comprehensive tale, people will walk
away with a whole new appreciation for Black hair and all of its wonder
and power!”
—Lloyd Boston, author of the bestselling Men of Color: Fashion, History,
and Fundamentals
“From antiquity to the present day, Black hair has been both
ornamentation and a medium of artistic expression. At the same time, its
changing political and cultural values have often mirrored the current
social climate. Hair Story, in documenting our natural hair’s beauty and
capacity for communication, brings to life and infuses with historical
relevance this unique slice of Americana.”
—Harriette Cole,
author of Jumping the Broom and How to Be
“Keen historical insight with pop-cultural anecdotes.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“A comprehensive and colorful look at a very touchy subject.”
—Essence
“As far as neatly and efficiently chronicling African-Americans and the
importance of their hair, Hair Story gets to the root of things.”
—Philadelphiaweekly.com
“{An} entertaining and concise survey … a book that successfully
balances popular appeal with historical accuracy.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Taps into the art and history of how Black hair is perceived in America
in a way that will no doubt be relevant for generations to come.”
—The Source
HAIR STORY
Revised Edition
Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America
AYANA D. BYRD AND LORI L. THARPS
The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your
personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in
any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe
the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s
copyright, please notify the publisher at:
us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.
For Dayvon Baldwin, Samuel R. Byrd,
Manuel J. Malia, Quincy and
Morris Tharps, and Stephanie Williams
Contents
Acknowledgments
Authors’ Note
1. Black Hair in Bondage: 1400
2. No Excuse for Nappy: 1900
3. Revolutionary Roots: Naturals, Afros, and
the Changing Politics of Hair, 1965
4. The Business of Black Hair
5. Politically Incorrect: Black Hair’s New Attitude, 1980
6. The Burden of Proof: Explaining Black Hair Culture
7. Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow: 1995
8. The Divided Decade: The Early 2000s
9. The Business of Black Hair 2.0
Sources
Index
Acknowledgments
This could not have happened without the support and love of our
families and friends, who are too numerous to list by name but who each
individually contributed in their own special, much-needed ways. A
special thanks to the Tharps, Price-Williams, Byrd, Malia-Camacho,
Winston-Porter-Pope, and Baldwin-Taylor families.
The inspiration for Hair Story began in a Belgian beauty salon and in a
living room in Morocco. The idea was developed in two separate projects
at Barnard College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of
Journalism. Much sincere thanks and appreciation to those professors
who encouraged us to take the next step—Helen Benedict, Lynn
Chancer, Natalie Kampen, and Les Lessinger.
Special thanks to Dave Bry and the Vibe Research Department for
bringing us together and to our diner in Brooklyn Heights for nourishing
us (literally) as we took the first slow, faltering steps of putting thoughts
to paper; Marie Brown, the most laid-back literary agent, who not only
sold us on the idea that we could do this but then convinced the rest of
the world. To Glenda Howard and the people at St. Martin’s Press, who
have shared our excitement and enthusiasm and helped fine-tune the
vision behind this book.
It took about one week of writing to realize that this would only be
possible with the assistance of others. We’d especially like to thank
Ernest Montgomery, photo editor extraordinaire, for being both brilliant
and cost-effective; Samuel R. Byrd for his artistic genius and speed; Asali
Solomon for catching all of our most obvious mistakes and making us
sound literate; Dana King, our amazing researcher, for her contributions,
suggestions, and belief in our project; Miko McGinty for all your design
directives and creative eye; Manuel Malia for his eagle-eye copyediting
and constructive criticism; Gael Levin, Karen R. Good, and Christian
Bernard for their computers and friendly encouragement; Tesha McCord
for her legal advice; to Alfonso Smith for the photos; April Garrett for
her bottomless Rolodex; Andrew Gillings for the access code; Kofi Taha
for, as always, stepping in and saving the day; Godwin Mensah for
technical support and a glimpse into Ghana; Fallon Scoggins and Mia
Herndon; all of the women and men who shared their hair stories,
providing us with many of the anecdotes in the book; to the friendly
security guard at Entertainment Weekly who kept us safe after hours.
Thanks to the Solomon family—Rochell and James for giving up a
Sunday football game to recount their hair stories and Akiba for photo-
documenting the outrageousness of her eighties hair; A’Lelia Bundles for
always cheerfully providing the answers to our endless barrage of
questions; Nat “The Bush Doctor” Mathis for sharing his life with us over
a Chinese dinner and for proving to the world that Black hair is worth
immortalizing; Carolivia Herron, bell hooks, Dr. Cheryl Ajirotutu,
Harriette Cole, Lloyd Boston, Geri Duncan Jones and the AHBAI, Bernice
Calvin, Marcia Gillespie, and Glynn Jackson for their insights into the
world of Black hair culture; the Indiana Historical Society and New
York’s Schomburg Research Library; Willie Morrow for just being
himself; the supportive staffs of Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, and Rolling
Stone magazines; Dawn Baskerville at InStyle; MOET (Men of Ego Trip);
Santi White for always understanding that sometimes this book needed
to come first; and Shanita (just because).
Inspiration from the spirits and life’s work of Madam C. J. Walker and
Annie Turnbo Malone; Assatta Shakur and Angela Davis; and Lisa Jones,
who first brought the “hair beat” to the masses. And to Florence Price,
whose outrageous statements and no-holds-barred opinions of what hair
should look like have been a constant inspiration and an almost constant
cross to bear.