DISCOGODDESS: good post. Just one thing though, we have never been separated from our native hairstyles. Most Black women, especially rural women did not perm their hair until much later. I have seen plenty of pictures of my mother and aunts with their hair in its natural state. When you were a little girl, I am sure that your hair was not permed, but rather styled or worn in its natural state in a very African/African American style i.e. plaits, braids, pigtails, ponytails, Afro-puffs. So there was a connection to our roots. Black men wore their hair short because it is either too hot for manual labor or too dangerous to work near machinery. Of course, the kind of men who "conked" their hair then are the same kind who sport braids now.
Pertaining to Africa, none of the pictures, drawings, or photographs, of West or Southern Africans portray any of the males as having long hair, braided hair, or locked hair. If someone can tell me if locks appeared before the advent of Rastafarianism, I'd like to know or if braids worn by men appeared before the 1960's.
BTW: Braids can be worn tastefully and professionally, but it is not necessarily racist or culturally insensitive if people find them disconcerting in a professional environment.
|