black women and hair
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Desired Extensions Is Changing Lives, One Tress at a Time
Gina Conwell knows hair. You could say that the owner of high-end hair boutique Desired Extensions was born into the beauty industry: Her parents own All-in-1 Beauty Supply, an Atlanta beauty emporium that has served local residents for the past 40 years. Conwell began working in the family business as a sales rep in her…
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Ladies First: Black Lightning Is a Superhero Story That Doesn’t Strike Us Down
(Warning: Spoilers abound below.) “Strange Fruit” echoing in the background of the show’s opening minutes. A young black woman narrating. References to Fannie Lou Hamer and Harriet Tubman. Mentions of SZA and Solange. Testosterone might power Black Lightning, the superhero, but a healthy dose of estrogen helps drive Black Lightning, the series. In the series,…
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The Re-Emergence of the Turbante: A Brazilian Fashion Statement With a Deeply Political History
Just four years ago, Monica Almeida, 34, an Afro-Brazilian woman living in Rio de Janeiro, didn’t identify as a black woman. “When I was an adolescent, I believed in the myth of the mulata (mixed-raced woman). It wasn’t until I was 30 years old and I had already experienced so much racism, read tons of…
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Wonder Woman: Happy Birthday, Flo-Jo!
The track and field and fashion phenomenon Florence Griffith Joyner—fondly known as Flo-Jo—would have been 58 years strong today, and undoubtedly still slaying us with her inimitable style. Long before Serena Williams stunned in her on-court ensembles or Ibtihaj Muhammad stayed true to herself and her sport in hijab, Flo-Jo was showing the world what…
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Celebrating Ourselves: A Toast to #TeamNatural
The year 2017 was a good year for black hair. Solange did the absolute most, impressing us with African-inspired avant-garde hairstyles. Then there was Erykah Badu—aka “Sara Bellum,” aka “Fat Belly Bella,” aka “Medulla Oblongata,” aka “Low Down Loretta Brown,” aka “Analogue Girl in a Digital World”—who pushed all the way through in what she…
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If You’re a Black Woman Who’s Tired of White People Touching Your Hair, There’s a Game for That
As black women, we occasionally have to deal with white people asking to touch our hair. Whether they’re fascinated by the curls, locs or intricate styles, there’s always a time in a black woman’s life when she feels like she’s on display at a hair petting zoo. You may have felt the urge to smack…
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On Watching a Black Woman Let Wypipo Touch Her Hair
At the intersection of divine providence and the collection of complex chemical reactions that cause us to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide and that we have chosen to call “life,” there still exists a nether region that can be explained only by the ancient African proverb, “Shit happens.” Shit happened to me last night. Well,…