One of the most striking things about Black Panther to me (and there are sooo many great things about this film) was the representation of Black hair.
NATURAL Black Hair.
I have 3C curly hair. For years, I straightened my hair in misguided attempt to look “professional” and because society tells us that straight “white” looking hair is prettier than all else. In my mid 30’s I got tired of straightening my hair and also out of pure laziness in finding a new hair stylist to straighten my hair, I went back to my natural curls. It was a long painful process of growing out my “straight” hair but the day I was able to have a head full of natural curls, I never looked back. H
uge shout out to Teren of the wednesdae salon in San Francisco who keeps me looking amazing. I currently have mid length curly hair that I style with a leave in conditioner and macadamia oil to keep it looking fresh.
I just turned 40 and my new hair goal is to go super short with an afro/pixie style haircut. The fact that I feel comfortable in my own skin and also professionally to sport a more “ethnic” haircut shows the huge growing acceptance of black hair. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised by the hairstyles of Black Panther.
Let’s start with Lupita Nyong’o who plays Nakia in Black Panther. She appears to have curls on the 4B to 4C spectrum. And her knots in the movie are beautiful. A natural short hairstyle that both highlights the beauty of kinky hair and the complexity.
Letitia Wright has braids in her hair. Braiding has it’s origins in Africa starting with the Himba people of Namiba. See this great article on the history www.ancient-origins.net/… Braids have always been popular in the African American community for both a practicality and also styles hair option.
And Danai Gurira...I can’t even… There is this hysterical scene starring her and a wig that so beautifully highlights the weird relationship black women have to fake hair. To be fair, weaves play a necessary and valid need in the black community but to highlight and showcase hair (or lack of hair) that shows how incredibly beautiful black women are. The fierceness and beauty of this picture...
And finally Angela Bassets wig. It took a month to create and is 110 individual dreads.
I can’t stress how important it is for black children to see “cool” movie stars with hair that looks like their’s. To see depictions of African inspired styles that don’t conform to Western beauty ideals. Loved the styling of this movie and particularly the hair.