Okay so we all love afros and ‘big hair’ is en vogue among naturals (black women who wear their afro-textured hair in its natural state, free of chemical straighteners, perms and hair extensions). But there are literally hundreds of other styles as I observed at the recent natural hair event ‘Naturally Fabulous’ organised by The…
Patricia Dixon-Spear’s book analyzes African American relationships outside of the confines of European-Atlantic cultural norms. The first two chapters lay the ground work by defining polygyny while illustrating the historical Greco-Roman attitudes towards polygyny which have been super imposed upon European-Atlantic ideology in general and modern feminist thought in particular. In this section the author…
It is well known that television channels have a habit of screening positive black films very late at night. Similarly cinemas have a habit of only screening such films very seldomly or not at all. Given these realities, what can be done to support black films and encourage the accurate portrayal of people of African…
Ghana provides a vivid, if sometimes chaotic setting for this second novel by Marilyn Heward Mills. The main characters are four women who are transplanted from Europe. Three are married and two are raising children. The fourth has children, but is not married and fights an ongoing battle with the children’s father, who is lax…
Big hair don’t care – or do we? In the UK it seems that the site of afro hair can still be seen as somewhat of a spectacle. This week I’ve seen various responses to afro hair when it’s worn out and big, but what’s been most noticeable on all occasions is the awareness of…
Drapetomania was the name given to the ‘mental illness’ that numerous enslaved Africans demonstrated by running away from the European slave-masters who were abusing them. As far as white doctors in the 1860’s were concerned, human beings were mentally ill if, when physically abused and tortured, they chose to escape. If this concept is hard…
Black women who have turned their backs on relaxers and weaves and who embrace their afro textured hair are women who are hungry for knowledge. Two of the most popular topics within online communities for naturals are how to grow hair and how to style it. But top of the list is what products to…