How Natural Black Hair Became A Civil Rights Issue
A Talk by Judy Juanita , Barbara Ruth Sanders and Kathryn Seabron
About this Talk
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, and gender. During the 1960s and 1970s, natural hair became an expression of self-love, a rejection of the Eurocentric beauty standards that have, historically, policed Black hair and deemed it unattractive or unprofessional. In what ways did Black women use their hair as a key medium of creative and political expression? This panel looks at the centrality of hair in diasporic aesthetics, and hair as a symbol of Black resistance to oppression.