The hidden cost of black hair

Hair is an important part of black women’s identity, but throughout history it has also been a target of oppression. What is the true cost of having black hair?

00:00 – What does your hair mean to you?
01:17 – Current attitudes towards textured hair
02:37 – How has black hair been viewed historically?
05:12 – Adhering to white expectations
06:14 – Why is black hair so expensive?
07:30 – The economics of the black hair care industry
09:16 – The health detriments of products and treatments
11:12 – What is the natural hair movement?

Read Tamara Gilkes Borr’s 1843 piece on the secret economics of hair:

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Read more about race in America:

Read about Nigeria’s hair trade:

Hair in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels:

The dark side of human hair trafficking:

The history of First Ladies’ hairstyles, untangled:

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