Black Hair & Children's Literature
- Combing' Through Representations of Black Girls' Hair in African American Children's Literature.In this article, we share findings from a content analysis of six picturebooks about hair. The picturebooks selected feature Black female protagonists and are written by African American females. Our content analysis examines the ways in which Black hair is theorized and represented to children (from diverse backgrounds) very early on in their reading trajectory. We present a discussion of the theoretical perspectives informing our analysis, followed by a review of related African American children's literary scholarship. We then provide a description of the methodology that includes data sources, analytic procedures, and trustworthiness. Next, we present the findings, in which we delineate the three main themes identified within the six picturebooks. We conclude with reasons as to why this research is significant.
- Children's Literature and the Politics of Hair in Books for African American ChildrenHair anxiety, as illustrated in Nappy Hair (1997) and An Enchanted Hair Tale (1987), could hardly be considered an unusual preoccupation in African American literature when it is so much a feature of Black life. Black American hair, its imaging and description, arises again and again in our public discourse. It is reasonable to suspect that these public "hair debates" erupt out of the pain leftover from the oppression and suppression of African people; yet the debates cannot be resolved without engaging the underlying issues of aesthetics, pride, and self-definition.
- My Black is Beautiful: A Study of How Hair is Portrayed in Children ' s and Young Adult LiteratureThis research seeks to examine how authors represent Black/African-American beauty in
children’s literature. To conduct my research, I have chosen to review Natasha Tarpley’s I Love
My Hair and Carolivia Herron’s Nappy Hair in conjunction with Zora Neale Hurston’s young
adult novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. - Why Do Kids’ Books About Black Hair Draw So Much Attention — and ControversyAuthor Natasha Tarpley writes an article for the New York Times about the availability of African-American stories of everyday like and the movement grows among black women to embrace natural hair, and as the push for diversity in children’s books shakes up the publishing industry, a wave of picture books about black hair has spread this new exuberance.
Legislation
- The CROWN ActThe Official Campaign of The CROWN Act Led by the CROWN Coalition, founded by Dove, National Urban League, Color Of Change, and Western Center on Law & Poverty. ct, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots.
- NAACP: National CROWN DayNational CROWN Day is a day of solidarity for the human rights of Black women, men, and children to wear their natural hair boldly, and proudly, without the fear of being discriminated against in school or the workplace. CROWN stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. Created to commemorate the anniversary of the first signing of The CROWN Act into law in 2019 in California, we recognize July 3 as National CROWN Day.
- Controlling the Crown: Legal Efforts to Professionalize Black HairSimilar to other aspects of life, White cultural norms influence the evaluations and expectations placed on Black women in the workplace. Building off these competing legal interpretations, this article analyzes the discrimination targeted at Black women’s hairstyles, the directions provided by both the New York City Human Rights Law and the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, and the relevance that this issue has for Black women across the nation.
Black Hair Literature
- Army Lifts Ban on Dreadlocks, and Black Servicewomen RejoiceBlack women serving in the United States Army are cheering revised regulations that permit hair locks, ending what critics said were years of scrutiny and confusing enforcement of rules about their appearance.
- Barbershops as Cultural Forums for African American MalesThis ethnographic study explores the social interactions of African American males in an urban, Southeastern barbershop. Barbershops have become frequent research sites for communicating health messages. This study suggests that African American barbershops are discursive spaces where identity is shaped as young men are initiated into manhood and African American culture.
- Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair. (BC Access)Using Afrocentric theory and standpoint theory, this article examines the effect of the White standard of beauty upon African American women. By shedding light on the salience of the effects of beauty, body image, and hair, this article questions societal definitions of beauty. Adherence to the Euro American beauty standard has had, and continues to have, devastating effects upon African American women. In addition, this standard pits African American women against the dominant cultural standard of beauty. A call to challenge the hegemonic White standard of beauty through Black beauty liberation is offered.
Cutting along the Color Line by Call Number: O'Neill Library HD8039.B32 U647 2013ISBN: 9780812245417Publication Date: 2013-10-24Today, black-owned barber shops play a central role in African American public life. Cutting Along the Color Line chronicles the cultural history of black barber shops as businesses and civic institutions.
Hair Story by Call Number: O'Neill Library Stacks E185.86 .B96 2001ISBN: 0312265999Publication Date: 2001-02-01Hair Story is a historical and anecdotal exploration of Black Americans' tangled hair roots. A chronological look at the culture and politics behind the ever-changing state of Black hair from fifteenth-century Africa to the present-day United States, it ties the personal to the political and the popular.
All That She Carried by Call Number: O'Neill Stacks E445.S7 M55 2021ISBN: 9781984854995Publication Date: 2021-06-08NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER . A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft an extraordinary testament to people who are left out of the archives. These include the story of enslaved labor's role in the cotton trade and apparel crafts and the rougher cotton "negro cloth" that was left for enslaved people to wear; the role of the pecan in nutrition, survival, and southern culture; the significance of hair to Black women and of locks of hair in the nineteenth century; and an exploration of Black mothers' love and the place of emotion in history
Sister Style by Call Number: O'Neill Stacks E185.86 .B697448 2021 LOCATEISBN: 9780197540572Publication Date: 2021-02-01"They don't think I'm viable, because I'm a Black woman with natural hair and no husband." This comment was made by Stacey Abrams shortly before the 2018 Democratic primary after she became the first Black woman to win a majory party's nomination for governor. Abrams' sentiment reflects thewider environment for Black women in politics, in which racist and sexist cultural ideas have long led Black women to be demeaned and fetishized for their physical appearance.In Sister Style, Nadia E. Brown and Danielle Casarez Lemi argue that Black women's political experience and the way that voters evaluate them is shaped overtly by their skin tone and hair texture, with hair being a particular point of scrutiny.
Teaching Beautiful Brilliant Black Girls by Call Number: EbookISBN: 9781544376998Publication Date: 2021-04-26This book is a collective call to action for educational justice and fairness for all Black Girls -- Beautiful, Brilliant. This edited volume focuses on transforming how Black Girls are understood, respected, and taught. Editors, and authors intentionally present the harrowing experiences Black Girls endure and provide readers with an understanding of Black Girls' beauty, talents, and brilliance. This book calls willing and knowledgeable educators to disrupt and transfrom their learning spaces by presenting: Detailed chapters rooted in scholarship, lived experiences, and practice Activities, recommendations, shorter personal narratives, and poetry honoring Black Girls Resources centering Black female protagonists Companion videos illustrating first-hand experiences of Black Girls and women Tools in authentically connecting with Black Girls so they can do more than survive, they can thrive.
Blackberries and Redbones by Call Number: O'Neill Stacks TT972 .B527 2010 LOCATEISBN: 9781572738805Publication Date: 2010-04-01This book features engaging scholarly essays, poems and creative writings that all examine the meanings of the Black anatomy in our changing global world. The body, including its hair, is said to be read like a text where readers draw certain interpretations based on signs, symbols, and culture. Each chapter in the volume interrogates that notion by addressing the question, "As a text, how are Black bodies and Black hair read and understood in life, art, popular culture, mass media, or cross-cultural interactions?" Utilising a critical perspective, each contributor articulates how relationships between physical appearance, genetic structure, and political ideologies impact the creativity, expression, and everyday lived experiences of Blackness. In this interdisciplinary volume, discussions are made more complex and move beyond the "straight versus kinky hair" and "light skin versus dark skin" paradigm. Instead efforts are made to emphasise the material consequences associated with the ways in which the Black body is read and (mis)understood. The aptness of this work lies in its ability to provide a meaningful and creative space to analyse body politics--highlighting the complexities surrounding these issues within, between, and outside Africana communities. The book provides a unique opportunity to both celebrate and scrutinise the presentation of Blackness in everyday life, while also encouraging readers to forge ahead with a deeper understanding of these ever-important issues.
The Policing of Black Hair in Schools
- Buzzfeed: 10 Times Schools Failed To Embrace Black Girl StudentsAdditional examples of Black hair controversies in school. You can further research by searching the individual stories.
- Essence: 7-Year-Old's Mother Speaks On Cut BraidESSENCE.com talked exclusively with the working mother. She tells us what happened when she spoke with the teacher, what punishment she thinks the teacher should receive, and the reason the teacher gave for cutting her daughter's hair.
- MadameNoir: Texas Teacher Wears Same Hairstyle As Student Who Didn’t Believe She Really Liked Her HairTeacher emulates student's hairstyle to show representation matters.
- Newsweek: War on Black Hair: Wearing Braids Gets Black Girls Banned From Prom at Malden Charter School in MassachusettsTwo black female students attending a charter school in Massachusetts were recently kicked off their sports teams and prohibited from attending a prom because they wore their hair in braids.
- NPRed: When Black Hair Violates The Dress CodeAs spring came around this year, the girls, who just turned 16, told their parents they wanted to get braided hair extensions. Their parents happily obliged, wanting Mya and Deanna to feel closer to their black heritage. But when the girls got to school, they were asked to step out of class. Both were given dress code violations.
- Rastafarian Boy, 13, Wins Racial Discrimination Case Against School Who Told Him To Cut His HairA young Rastafarian schoolboy will now be allowed to wear his hair in dreadlocks at school after winning a legal battle.
- Father angry after teacher cuts biracial daughter's hairA Michigan father has moved his 7-year-old biracial daughter from one school to another after the child’s hair was cut on separate occasions by a classmate and a teacher.
- I Love My Hair: The Weaponizing of Black Girls Hair by Educators in Early Childhood Education (ed.gov)The study explored the experiences and perceptions of Black girls as conveyed through the narratives of their parents. In particular, this study focused on racial microaggressions in early childhood education (preschool through third grade).
- Hair harassment in urban schools and how it shapes the physical activity of Black adolescent girls.Hair harassment can be defined as the direct or indirect unwanted, unwelcomed, and offensive behavior made either explicitly or implicitly typically towards women or girls of African descent, based on the texture, look, or subjective assumptions of their hair. The purpose of this investigation is to explore the hair experiences of adolescent girls of African descent in physical education class, and how these experiences shape their decision to participate in physical education class.
- Olympian Gabby Douglas opens up about hair damage from gymnastics: 'I had bald spots'Gabby Douglas is opening up about all the hair damage she suffered as a result of doing gymnastics.
- I Wore My Hair Like My Student’s and Went Viral—Here’s Why I Did ItAs teachers, we should reflect the light of our students back onto them.
- The Case for Hair Health in Health Education: Exploring Hair and Physical Activity Among Urban African American GirlsThis study provides
important insights for culturally tailoring Health Education interventions in order to promote in-school physical activity.
Barbershops & Community
- Harlem Nonprofit Turns Barbershops Into Reading Centers For Young BoysIt’s not just a place to get a haircut, it’s a neighborhood hub. And for some barbershops in Harlem, they’re becoming a center for reading.
- Barbershop BooksBarbershop Books is a community-based literacy program that creates child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops. We help boys identify as readers by connecting books to a male centered space and by involving men in boys’ early reading experiences.
Journal Articles & Black Hair
- The Influence of Colorism on the Hair Experiences of African American Female AdolescentsThis article addresses the prevalence of colorism among the hair care narratives of African American female adolescents. Eleven interviews were conducted to explore the connection between hair and sense of self and self-esteem
- Talking back in cyberspace: self-love, hair care, and counter narratives in Black adolescent girls' YouTube vlogsWhile the 'natural hair movement' has grown in popularity and criticism, educational researchers have not attended to how Black adolescent girls with all textures of natural hair are navigating the implications of foregoing chemical alterations to their curl patterns. This article reports on an investigation of self-talk in 56 internet video logs constructed by Black adolescent girls with natural hair, describing the messages of self-love, hair care, and counter narratives to dominant discourse that emerged from an in-depth ethnographic content analysis.
