During the 2012 Oscar season, actress Viola Davis was the talk of the town. She had been nominated for an Oscar after a powerful performance in the film, The Help. In the weeks leading up to the Oscars, people seemed to discuss her hairstyle nearly as much as they discussed her historic Oscar nod. Previously, she’d worn a combination of wigs and weaves but evidently, like … [Read more...]
Hampton Hair Policy – Meet the Doll Test
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A few years ago, the business school at Hampton University, one of our nation’s top historically Black universities, implemented a policy that banned natural hairstyles for its male students. The university declared ‘braids, dreadlocks and other unusual hairstyles are not acceptable’ for majors in their five-year master's of business administration program.” At the time, … [Read more...]
On Falling In Love With Black Hair
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So the Gabby-Hair-Drama continues. If you have no idea what the words “Gabby-Hair-Drama” mean, you can get a cliff notes version in Part 1 of this post. Initially many had concerns that the longer this topic was in the spotlight the more harm it would cause. But as an “eternal optimist” – I actually think the conversation has begun to evolve into a more critical and powerful … [Read more...]
Dear Gabby: Hurt Sistas Hurt Other Sistas
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A short while ago, I wrote about nappy hair haters. One of my main points was that when Black women hate on nappy hair – it’s usually more about the hater than it is about the woman wearing her hair in a natural style. Black people living in Western society have a lengthy history of being taught to resent and despise each other. So when Sistas with perms hate … [Read more...]
Nappy Haters: You Look Like a Shocked Slave
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After posting this picture of herself wearing an Afro on twitter, female rapper and America’s Best Dance Crew judge Lil’ Mama got a reminder of just how challenging it can be to be natural. According to a report posted on LoveBrownSugar and CurlyNikki, Lil’ Mama’s Afro picture was not very well received. Some of the folks on her twitter stream saw the photo and … [Read more...]