An Economic Twist on Hair

Have a pressing hair question? It's time to get things straight. Share your hairstory with The Root and read the washingtonpost.com Live Online discussion: AN ECONOMIC TWIST ON HAIR with Yodith Dammlash and Delece Smith-Barrow.

WEDNESDAY, 12 P.M. -- Have a pressing hair question? It's time to get things straight. Share your hairstory with The Root and join the washingtonpost.com Live Online discussion: AN ECONOMIC TWIST ON HAIR with Yodith Dammlash and Delece Smith-Barrow.

*****

The bank might be calling about the mortgage. The lights might get cut. The car may break down on the way to the salon. But as the old joke goes, black women will keep a hair appointment, no matter what. Still, the tough economy is testing the sacred bond between black women and their stylists. In a collection of essays and photo galleries, The Root explores the many tangles and twists in this deeply committed relationship that goes back centuries to our roots in Africa.  

Click through as faithful client Delece Smith-Barrow explains why she's keeping her regular appointment, as Detroit-based stylist Paunice Savage reveals her secrets to survival in the midst of the auto-industry meltdown and as A'Lelia Bundles, great, great granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker, brokers an end to the hair wars. Wanna see if we captured your style? Check out Strands of Strength. And, black men, we know you take pride in your ‘dos, too. We give you your props in Sheen, Mean and Clean. 

Then listen in as The Root's writers extend their hair pieces to radio this Friday, March 27, on NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin. 

Read, look, listen, sound off and help us untangle our beloved, bewildering roots!

Delece Smith-Barrow: Will black salons survive the recession?

Paunice Savage: Patience, prayer and "this-too-shall pass" hair specials.

Michel Martin: Sometimes a haircut is just a haircut.

A'Lelia Bundles: A 5-part manifesto on hair peace.    

Yodith Dammlash: A candid look at the tangles between black women and their hair.

Bijan C. Bayne: How black men have shaved, conked and cornrowed through history.

What's your twist on hair? SHARE YOUR HAIRSTORY!