The kinky! It’s part of me

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line…which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair” — W.E.B Du Bois in a speech entitled To The Nations of Our World.

“One day I was having a conversation with an Asian friend, and he made a random comment about how black girls are always talking about how they love themselves, when they cannot even accept the hair that grows out of their scalp. Ouch! What if I could accept me!” Dr. Sampa Chifuntu Sichilima.

To Sampa, that conversation was life changing, it marked her Afrocentric journey of redefining what beauty really is on her own terms. On many occasions, I hear her contend that accepting yourself liberates you from so many life pressures. Sampa’s retort to that seemingly cut-throat comment about Black girls from our Asian brother, constantly reminds me of many African women world over, who believe without a shadow of doubt that once they accept who they are, they can be comfortable in their own skin.

Dr. Chifuntu is a young Zambian medical doctor whose passion for natural hair beauty has influenced many. Her unusually long natural hair is admirable to many up-coming African natural hair fanatics. She currently wears many hats including that of being a mom and VIP ambassador at Natural Kurls, a saloon specialised in treating African natural hair.

Dr.Chifuntu stands tall on wearing her natural hair, but she respects that other African women may hold different views and opinions

While the doctor stands tall on wearing her natural hair, she respects that other African women may hold different views and opinions. However, she argues and maintains that there is a problem when inferiority complex drives individuals to think that “kinky hair” is not as lit as the hair type of other races.

Unprofessional hair syndrome

“Unprofessional hair” is a phrase mostly used in reference to natural African hair, hair which is usually hard in texture and appearance as compared with hairs types from other races. Though this phrase is slowly fading away, most Black women say they still  experience some form of “polite” racism in reference to their hair. 

A research by Dove indicates that, Black women’s hair is more policed in the workplace, and the hair from other races (particularly White/Caucasian) is more preferred in the workplace than African natural hair. Hair is perceived and judged differently, and unfairly so on Black women. This groundbreaking study “confirms workplace bias against hairstyles impacts Black women’s ability to celebrate their natural beauty, and how workplace bias and corporate grooming policies unfairly impact Black women”.

Perhaps that is what Michelle Obama meant to articulate when she was quoted saying; Americans “weren’t ready” for her natural hair during Barack Obama’s tenure at the White House. Straight, fine-textured hair has been considered superior to our kinky Afro hair for centuries, and that bias still persist to this day. It is thus unsurprising that people with Afro-textured hair still continue to face appearance-based discrimination.

An act called Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (Crown Act) was recently passed in the United States. This is a piece of legislation that will ban discrimination against individuals based on how they choose to wear their hair. Among the hairstyles mentioned in the legislation are those “in which hair is tightly coiled or tightly curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros.”

Sughnen Yongo-Okochi writes that the natural hair movement began in the 1960s as a political statement by Black activists. “The movement permeated the 70s and dissipated in the 80s after Black people with afros started to be targeted for their activism against racial oppression. The trend took off again in the mid-2000s. It was accelerated when notable Black celebrities like Erykah Badu, Lupita Nyong’o, Janelle Monáe, Solange Knowles, Tracee Ellis-Ross, and Viola Davis began to wear natural styles,” Yongo-Okochi notes. Many other activists from different African countries born in the 90s are  reigniting the movement and are using their hair to raise awareness on important issues such as race and cultural identity. 

Research by Mintel reveals that about 40% of Black women are most likely to wear their hair natural (no chemicals) with no-heat styling, which supports the view that across the U.S, Black women are fully embracing their natural hair. Conversely, African women still spend more than $250 (on average) on imported human hair (extensions, weaves and wigs). The more expensive the hair, the classier one is regarded among peers. While such scenarios are common place, many questions beg answers. Do African women suffer from stigma or is it just a matter of inferiority complex for some? Is the reason that African hair is just difficult to handle and time consuming valid? The debate rages on and others have argued whether natural hair movement has failed Black women. 

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