PDF What Did the Constitution Mean To Early Americans? (Historians at Work) by Edward Countryman in History

Description

Two world wars; the Civil Rights movement; and a Jheri curl later; Blacks in America continue to have a complex and convoluted relationship with their hair. From the antebellum practice of shaving the head in an attempt to pass as a "free" person to the 1998 uproar over a White third-grade teacher's reading of the book Nappy Hair; the issues surrounding Black hair continue to linger as we enter the twenty-first century.Hair Story is a historical and anecdotal exploration of Black Americans' tangled hair roots. A chronological look at the culture and politics behind the ever-changing state of Black hair from fifteenth-century Africa to the present-day United States; it ties the personal to the political and the popular.Read about:* Why Black American slaves used items like axle grease and eel skin to straighten their hair.* How a Mexican chemist straightened Black hair using his formula for turning sheep's wool into a minklike fur.* How the Afro evolved from militant style to mainstream fashion trend.* What prompted the creation of the Jheri curl and the popular style's fall from grace.* The story behind Bo Derek's controversial cornrows and the range of reactions they garnered.Major figures in the history of Black hair are presented; from early hair-care entrepreneurs Annie Turnbo Malone and Madam C. J. Walker to unintended hair heroes like Angela Davis and Bob Marley. Celebrities; stylists; and cultural critics weigh in on the burgeoning sociopolitical issues surrounding Black hair; from the historically loaded terms "good" and "bad" hair; to Black hair in the workplace; to mainstream society's misrepresentation and misunderstanding of kinky locks.Hair Story is the book that Black Americans can use as a benchmark for tracing a unique aspect of their history; and it's a book that people of all races will celebrate as the reference guide for understanding Black hair.