Hair texture guru, Anthony Dickey, is taking followers on a historic journey by the evolution of pure hairstyles in honor of Black Historical past Month. The beautiful photos of Black magnificence, in all of its wonderful varieties, had my mom and I taking a stroll down reminiscence lane.
To kick off Black Historical past Month, on Feb. 1, the Hair Rules host and salon founder took to Instagram to share a number of historic details concerning the pure hair motion that arose within the Sixties. The cultural phenomenon that gained momentum inside the African American neighborhood on the heels of the Civil Rights Motion inspired Black people to embrace their pure hair texture as an alternative of conforming to Eurocentric magnificence requirements by straightening or altering their pure crowns.
Popularized by political activists like Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton and Jesse Jackson, the afro turned an emblem of resilience and an emblem of liberation throughout the U.S. as Black of us fought again in opposition to oppression and discrimination.
As we watched the video collectively, I chatted with my mother to get a greater understanding of the afro. She was born within the thick of the Civil Rights Motion and witnessed the political stress and strife that poured throughout America throughout this pivotal time in historical past.
“It wasn’t only a fashion, it was a message about Black satisfaction,” she stated. “I keep in mind listening to James Brown’s ‘Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud’ and selecting my hair out so far as it may go.”
My mother had the basic Black Energy afro decide, a big comb adorned with a Black fist on the backside. She’d depart it in her hair sometimes simply to flex on white of us. “It most likely wasn’t such a protected factor to do in hindsight,” she chuckled.
Supply: North Carolina Central College / Getty
The new comb.
My mom and I may immediately odor the scent of scorching hair and burnt grease as Dickey transitioned to the explosion of “church hair,” stunning hairstyles rocked by Black ladies who attended church usually on Sundays within the ’50s and ’60s. The beautiful and elaborate types have been created with a scorching comb, a hair straightening instrument popularized by haircare millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker, within the 1900s.
Black ladies used the screaming scorching instrument to straighten and press their hair out or to bump and form their coils for church service. In response to my mother, when you needed your coiffure to final greater than a day, some good previous Dixie Peach grease and a silk scarf would maintain you down till your subsequent scorching comb press.
Supply: H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock / Getty
I grew up within the ’90s and the recent comb was nonetheless getting used all through my childhood. I’ve fond recollections of sitting within the chair for hours as my mother would run a blazing scorching comb by my hair on Sundays for church. One thing about it was comforting, excluding the uncommon event when she would miss my edges and graze my ear with the steaming scorching gadget.
“Sorry, I used to be clumsy,” my mother laughed after I introduced up the embarrassing anecdote.
Watching Dickey showcase Black hair in all of its varied types of magnificence jogged my memory and mother of the highly effective tales and id that we and so many Black folks far and large maintain in each strand of our hair. Our hair is a mirrored image of our traditions, our household, our unwavering energy and our superb self-expression. What a pleasure it’s to be Black.
Joyful Black Historical past month, y’all!
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