The Politics of Black Women's Hair

by Prince, Althea

• ISBN13: 9781897178874
• ISBN10: 1897178875
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-01
• Publisher: Consortium Book Sales & Dist

Summary

Sometimes, hair is just hair. Sometimes, it's much more.In 1905, Madame C.J. Walker invented a metal comb that, when heated, transformed black women's hair from tight curls into smooth, straight tresses. The iron comb made her a millionaire, but many black people criticized her for creating a product that made black women's hair imitate white women's long, straight hair.From Madame Walker to First Lady Michelle Obama, this series of essays by Althea Prince and others explores the role of hairstyle in black women's relationships with their mothers, their peers, their self-image, and society as a whole.Althea Prince 's books include Being Black , Loving This Man , and Ladies of the Night . She teaches at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Author Biography

Dr. Althea Prince is a sociologist, essayist, and novelist. She teaches at the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University. Her books include: Loving This Man, Being Black, and the short fiction collection, Ladies of the Night. She also co-edited Feminisms & Womanisms: A Women's Studies Reader.

Table of Contents

Beginning the Walk	p. 9
journeying from the core
Rituals	p. 27
touch a black woman's hair
"Who I Am Is in My Hair	p. 39"
Guest Essay
Conversations with Young Black Women in Toronto	p. 53
my conclusions from eyewitnessing, listening, and sometimes listening-in
Anonymous	p. 55
Taija Ryan	p. 61
Maxine Clarke	p. 68
Conversations with Mothers of Black Girls	p. 71
Veronica Ciandre	p. 73
Skira Martinez	p. 79
Elaine Nash and daughters, Nina and Raina	p. 81
Andrea Oliver	p. 90
Glenda Prince	p. 95
Itah Sadu	p. 98
Embodying the Hair on Our Heads	p. 102
versions of hair:
good hair
bad hair
coarse hair
nappy hair
black consciousness	p. 106
about Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé Knowles	p. 111
me ah say ah one man	p. 112
stories held in the heart	p. 113
bliss in a straight-hair world	p. 115
Barbara Walters and black women's hair	p. 119
Dread and the Baldhead	p. 121
Althea Prince is in the house	p. 124
women with man-head	p. 125
Stokely Carmichael and Miriam Makeba	p. 127
from epiphany to action	p. 130
Michelle Obama, The First Lady of the United States of America	p. 137
musings on the media, sister-black women, and Michelle Obama's hair
plus, Chris Rock discovers his daughter wants "good hair"
To Locks or not to Locks	p. 147
email correspondence with my niece Janis
And Look What the Future Hath Wrought	p. 153
Poem
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