BOOK REVIEW B


lack women’s hair is a subject that arouses strong emotions and controversy. In Hair Power Skin Revolution, a collection of per- sonal essays, stories and poems by black and mixed-race women, Nicole Moore


ignites a new dialogue on the subject, poignantly and powerfully chronicling why black women need to develop an eternal love affair with their natural hair and skin. “Hair and identity are intrinsically linked.


Whether you think you are just wearing a hairstyle, your hairstyle does say something about you,” says Moore matter-of-factly, an indication of her passion to create through the book a platform where black and mixed-race women could have an interactive dialogue of visual and written expressions about the road to ‘Nappy-turality’.


Angela Davis, below, became an iconic feature after wearing her hair afro-style


ceptable definition of “good hair”. For some it is the norm. For others, it is a matter of convenience. It is estimated the US hair and skin industry is worth over $9bn – in 2008 sales of home relaxers were a stag- gering $45.6m. The subject of talk shows and films – from Chris Rock’s Good Hair to Akila Chopfield’s, The Politics of Black Women’s Hair – the web/ blogosphere is always sizzling with numerous ar- ticles dedicated to the rights and wrongs of black women’s hair. Growing up as a mixed-race child, Moore, who now wears her hair in locks, admits to feeling trapped because of her skin and hair. As such she tried to form her own identity and managed to “define a strong sense of self and develop a posi- tive black identity. This kept me safe and strong in a society that measures people mostly from a white male and western perspective. I realised I couldn’t


Power! To the kinky!


By Belinda Otas


Reading the diverse voices featured in Hair Power Skin Revolution, two questions kept leaping out:


Do black women, regardless of their geo- graphical location, not like themselves the natu- ral way they were born? And what constitutes good hair and beautiful skin – by extension what defines black beauty?


“In my opinion, no one has the authority and right to define what is beautiful. However, beauty standards exist and because they are west- ernised and one-dimensional, one-size- fits-all standards, there does appear to be a lot of pres- sure for women to adopt these impossible to reach standards, putting them- selves through unneces- sary and hard to sustain beauty regimes,” says Moore. For a long time now it seems having straight hair is seen as the most culturally ac-


96 | NEW AFRICAN WOMAN


They were being sanctioned all over the world and had no choice


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100