Angela Davis and the Natural Hair Movement
Schwarz-Weiß-Collage mit historischen Fotos einer Frau am Mikrofon und einem „Women's Liberation"-Transparent
In February, Black History Month, the achievements of Black people are celebrated. For Angela Davis, the Afro was more than just a hairstyle. It was a powerful symbol in the civil rights movement in the US. The civil rights movement also triggered a shift in how Black people saw their hair and themselves.
A Black person wearing an Afro was labeled as threatening. With their courage, these people have shaped the history of Black people and Black identity right up to today.
Women like Angela Davis paved the way for the Black generations who followed, right up to ours.
Angela Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She studied French at Brandeis University, philosophy at the University of Frankfurt, and earned her doctorate at Humboldt University in Berlin. After returning to the United States, she got involved in the second wave of the women's movement and in campaigns against the Vietnam War. In the late 1970s, a lot of controversy surrounded her, which led to her arrest and to her being added to the FBI's most-wanted list. One indirect thing the FBI flyers especially focused on was Angela's hair - the Afro. In the 1970s, the African American became one of the symbolic figures of the Black Power movement. The movement was originally founded to protect the Black community from state violence. Most of the women around Angela Davis in the Black Panther Party were highly educated women with university degrees - many still work today as directors, professors, members of education boards, and founders of various foundations.
They all had one thing in common: they represented through their Afro. Davis and many other Black women wore Afros to protest the oppression of Black people and to stand up for Black rights. Davis broke ground and established the political discourse of Black Hair movements all over the world.
She spent 16 months behind bars. Thousands of people and more than 67 countries, including Germany, campaigned for her release from prison. The song "Angela" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono was also part of one of the campaigns to free her. Davis was ultimately acquitted. Black hair culture has been carrying stigma for centuries. It's a turbulent journey with many highs and lows.
It started with chemical relaxers to fit the straight, accepted beauty standard. Hot combs were also popular. They were used to straighten curly/kinky hair so it would match "the norm."
The Western beauty ideal wasn't just a social standard - it was also the key to getting a job.
Thanks to the Natural Hair Movement, more and more people today (African Americans, Afro Europeans, and people of color) wear their Afros, curls, and waves with full pride.
This month, this year, today, and on every other day, we celebrate these women who have shaped Black identity, Black culture, and Black history up to this day - whether they're still with us or not.
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