The Many Waves of Afrocentric and Natural Hair – Part 3 by Natasha Gaspard
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was more knowledgeable about the earlier waves of the natural hair care movement and less so about the fifth and sixth waves. Therefore, I enlisted the lovely and much respected Natasha Gaspard to write our third installment. Fascinating!
Natasha Gaspard (center), flanked by Charisse Higgins and Melody Henderson of The Curly Girl Collective
Fifth Wave Beginnings
It was the late 1980s, and female rappers, like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah, were a huge inspiration for my young peers and me. Back then, Black women were sporting everything from asymmetrical haircuts to finger waves, swoop bangs, and weaves, to every braided style you can imagine. Although there were lots of options, many of these styles were created for relaxed hair. The year was 1988 or ‘89, and relaxers were everywhere I looked! Black women and girls with relaxed hair were featured in magazines, in commercials, and on television shows. Getting your hair relaxed was seen as a rite of passage into young womanhood for everyone I knew and grew up with.
Salt-N-Pepa
At 10 years of age, I remember going to our neighborhood pharmacy and begging my mom for a relaxer. I wanted long, silky hair just like the little Black girls on the boxes of kiddie perms that lined drug store shelves. I also wanted those press-and-curl-induced headaches to stop and my straight hair to last longer. Eventually, my mom took me to a salon to get my first relaxer and now, I finally felt like I was a big girl!
My natural hair journey began in the late 1990s in Brooklyn, NY just as the 5th wave of the movement was forming. Most little Black girls growing up in the 80s like me, wore their hair in several parts, either braided or twisted, and secured with what we called go-go’s (elastic bands with colorful plastic balls at the ends) and decorative bows. Other girls wore very elaborate cornrow styles, adorned with beautiful beads. There seemed to be an unspoken rule that your natural hair was no longer acceptable as you reached young adulthood. It was expected that you would eventually straighten your hair, particularly for special occasions like first communions or weddings. My mom began pressing my hair in the kitchen and I eventually graduated to getting my hair pressed at the hair salon. No matter where I got my hair pressed, I would always suffer headaches right after this straightening process.
(Mis) Representation Matters
In the late ‘90s, I was a college student in Brooklyn when recording artist Lauryn Hill made a major impact on my world. I remember thinking that she was so beautiful and talented, and had this self confidence I really admired. She also wore her own natural hair which made me wonder if it was possible for me to wear mine. After much introspection, it occurred to me that deep down, I didn’t really believe I could. I realized that the real reason I kept relaxing my hair was because I believed it was prettier, more manageable, and more acceptable when it was straight.
Lauryn Hill
These were the messages constantly being reinforced by everything and everyone around me since birth. But, with this new insight, I made the conscious decision in 1998 to accept the truth that my natural hair was good enough. At the time I felt all alone on this journey, but I would soon learn that there were thousands of women like me right in New York and across the country.
Natural Hair Blows Up, On and Offline
In the late 90s, the internet became the place where Black women would find each other in what were called “discussion boards” or chat rooms. Websites like Naturally Curly (1998) and Nappurality (2002) created these virtual safe spaces where thousands of Black women could navigate the uncharted territory of natural hair together. They were able to find out about natural hair salons in New York like Khamit Kinks, Red Hair Salon, and Miss Jessie’s which specifically catered to our hair texture. These women were also excited to discover new boutique brands like Anu Essentials, Carol’s Daughter, Shea Moisture, and Taliah Waajid, which were expressly created to fulfill our beauty needs.
At that same time, I switched my college major from psychology to communications. I learned the extent to which marketing and advertising relied on exploiting fears and insecurities as a strategy to sell products. I was able to critically analyze the media’s role in creating and perpetuating a straight-hair beauty standard globally. In the years which followed my own big chop in 2002, I began to encounter women on the streets of Brooklyn who had so many questions and concerns about wearing their natural hair. It dawned on me that we needed an informational platform, a TV show, to address their concerns and help them believe that wearing their natural hair was possible. And since I wasn’t a hair care professional, I needed to find experts to join the online conversation and share their expertise.
Patrice Grell Yursik - Founder of AfroBella
While I was figuring out how to get my show out to the women who needed it, websites like Going Natural (2004), and blogs like AfroBella (2006), Curly Nikki (2008), and Natural Hair Does Care (2008) provided information and inspiration to women searching for ways to understand and style their hair. Once the conversation moved onto the latest new social media platform, called YouTube, another shift took place that would take natural hair to new levels of visibility.
Beginning in the early 2010s, YouTube gave rise to what is known today as the social media “influencer.” Being able to see Black women style their natural hair, step by step, on video inspired women worldwide to try it on their own. There was so much conversation on YouTube about natural hair that a few of the popular YouTube influencers in New York began hosting small gatherings in their homes.
The Movement Shifts Towards Commercialism - 6th Wave (2010-2020)
By 2012, natural hair events, called Meetups, were happening regularly in restaurants, salons, and event spaces throughout NYC. With a sense that this was a significant moment, I began documenting these events and sharing them on my own YouTube channel. Although I was ecstatic about the number of women returning to their natural hair, I couldn’t help but notice that soon there was a huge disconnect. Ironically, what began as an organic movement based on self-love and acceptance, was turning into a quest for the perfect curl!
Essence featuring the Biggie Small Braids - Photo by Keston Duke
One dynamic stylist and salon owner was not chasing the curl. Instead, Essence China was building on a classic, with her salon, Rare Essence, in Tempe, Arizona, where she created cornrow styles that reflected the name of her salon. One style, in particular, went global: “The Essence,” featuring the Biggie Smalls Braids (2011). As pictured here this style also appeared in Essence Magazine (no relation), and in various hairstyle magazines. It could be seen in salon windows and draped across their awnings in the US and as far away as Nairobi, Kenya. “In 2004, 23-year old Essence China made history by advocating for Senate Bill 1159, Essence Farmer vs. The State Board of Cosmetology, of Arizona. She won this case and, as a result, natural hair stylists were permitted to perform their services professionally without having to procure a cosmetology license” (Today’s Honoree).
Meanwhile, I was happy to see that hairstylists began to enter the conversation and offer the experienced knowledge that was severely lacking. Felicia Leatherwood conducted her “Loving Your Hair with Natural Care” workshops around the country beginning in 2010. I was also blessed to partner with pioneers like Diane C. Bailey to create YouTube videos and other natural hair events that centered around education. The Khamit Kinks salon had long been a destination salon for accessing information and education on hair repair and restoration, in addition to creative styling and hosting hair events. Their consultations were so much in demand that they began charging. Tribe Called Curl hosted monthly events featuring expert hairstylists who would debunk the myths and harmful practices surfacing online and on YouTube. Vloggers like Taren Guy worked with stylists like Anthony Dickey of Hair Rules to put on educational events that brought out hundreds of women.
The need for basic natural hair care education at that time was evident. And yet, there just weren’t enough hairstylists with the visibility to meet the demand, or to combat the rampant misinformation which had gone unchecked for so long. On top of that, major hair care brands jumped on the opportunity to tap into this lucrative market. These elements created the perfect storm that allowed texturism, (women judging one another based on the curl pattern of their hair - curly vs kinky) to divide the community further. A new generation of product junkies were created who were just as confused about their hair as I was when the 5th wave of the natural hair movement had begun ten years prior.
Anu Prestonia Speaking to Guests at a Khamit Kinks Meet Up
Natural Hair Goes Much Deeper
Unbeknownst to many of us, there was already a thriving natural hair and braiding industry backed by science! Pioneering hairstylists in the late 80s and early 90s had been servicing the hair care needs of their clients for years. They had been on the front lines creating healthy ways of addressing the hair loss created by improper styling techniques and damage from chemical treatments like relaxers. They had been there to support and encourage their clients who faced ridicule from wearing natural hair when it wasn’t popular. They were the trusted confidants creating hairstyles for professional clients who faced hair discrimination long before the CROWN Act existed to protect us. And they had advocated for the creation of a professional curriculum to ensure that the legacy of natural hair care and styling would be preserved.
But folks online circa the 2010s were basically reinventing the wheel because they weren’t aware of all this history. In 2011 when I began to learn about the pioneering natural hair stylists and their accomplishments, I realized they were the missing piece! It would take a lot to build trust between the vloggers and the legacy natural hair stylists to work together and learn from each other. Events like the “Meet the Masters” brunches that I helped produce, beginning in 2013, was an attempt to bridge the information/education gap that existed online.
Diane Bailey, Natasha Gaspard, Imani Dawson, and Latoya Johnston, members of The Brooklyn Supernaturals
I believe that the next wave of this movement will involve addressing the systemic barriers in the hair care industry that have caused Black people harm for generations! As a founding member of the Natural Hairstyle & Braid Coalition, I am committed to our mission of preserving the legacy of natural hair in NY State by focusing on legislation and education. In 1994, NY state was the first in the country to create a license specified for natural hair and braiding expertise, separate from cosmetology. That is a huge distinction, before which, stylists wanting to care for naturally-textured hair were forced to go to cosmetology schools that taught nothing about texture. The first and only textbook focused solely on natural hair care and braiding was written by pioneer Diane C. Bailey. However, there are still too few schools teaching the curriculum.
The opportunity for Black women to create a deeper connection with themselves through their hair is at its highest level to date! All the energy previously focused on finding the “right products,” can now be devoted to securing the necessary education to address our hair care needs. This education extends beyond learning hair styling techniques and is deeper than just talking about hair. Our natural hair journey affords us the opportunity to love ourselves, mind, body and spirit, because they are all connected.
Folks like Dr. Afiya Mbilishaka have created Psychohairapy certification courses (www.psychohairapy.org) to train hairstylists and barbers to talk about mental health through conversations around hair. Partnerships between natural hairstylists and dermatologists are forming to address the epidemic of hair loss among Black women. Change is happening and we are the ones who are directing where this movement will go. There is still much work to be done, and I am continuing to do my part to amplify the voices, make the connections, and bring awareness to new solutions!
About Natasha
Natasha Gaspard is an Emmy award-winning television producer and the creator of Mane Moves Media, a natural hair and beauty-focused online video network for Black women. She is a natural hair advocate certified in Psychohairapy, and is a founding member of the Natural Hairstyle & Braid Coalition. You can visit Natasha on her Instagram page.
Links to Part One and Part Two of this series: