Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture

Summary

From Guardian contributor and prominent BBC race
correspondent Emma Dabiri comes a timely and resonant essay collection exploring
the ways in which black hair has been appropriated and stigmatized throughout
history, with ruminations on body politics, race, pop culture, and Dabiri's own
journey to loving her hair.

Emma Dabiri can tell you the first time she chemically straightened her hair.
She can describe the smell, the atmosphere of the salon, and her mix of emotions
when she saw her normally kinky tresses fall down her shoulders. For as long as
Emma can remember, her hair has been a source of insecurity, shame, and—from
strangers and family alike—discrimination. And she is not alone.

Despite increasingly liberal world views, black hair continues to be erased,
appropriated, and stigmatized to the point of taboo. Through her personal and
historical journey, Dabiri gleans insights into the way racism is coded in
society's perception of black hair—and how it is often used as an avenue for
discrimination. Dabiri takes us from pre-colonial Africa, through the Harlem
Renaissance, and into today's Natural Hair Movement, exploring everything from
women's solidarity and friendship, to the criminalization of dreadlocks, to the
dubious provenance of Kim Kardashian's braids.

Through the lens of hair texture, Dabiri leads us on a historical and
cultural investigation of the global history of racism—and her own personal
journey of self-love and finally, acceptance.

Deeply researched and powerfully resonant, Twisted proves that far
from being only hair, black hairstyling culture can be
understood as an allegory for black oppression and, ultimately, liberation.