Afro Hair is your heritage. It is power and beauty and brings emotions.

African slaves were forced to shave their hair for hygiene purposes. However, this was also a perfect opportunity for slave masters to take their identities away.

Afro hair is parted into sections and then platted to the scalp, which is a cornrow. The cornrow was done in various designs on the head.

The enslaved Africans started cornrowing their hair; in doing so, they could keep their hair neat and not have it shaved off.

During the African enslavement trade, cornrows were used as maps on a woman’s head. This was so they could escape from plantations. They would hide seeds within the cornrows so they could plant the seeds to feed their families when they arrived at their new destination.

African braids, cornrow styles, and hairstyles identified tribes, so you knew you were from a particular tribe depending on how you would dress your hair. That was your identity, so when you travelled, they would see that your hairstyle was associated with that tribe.

The slaves communicated messages through their braid styles, such as signs of a river, bridge, or the daytime to meet. They knew they couldn't talk to each other as the white master was watching them, making sure that they were not trying to escape the plantation.

From Black Health Initiative, Tashi Brown said, “It just shows how resilient, intelligent, and amazing our people are. It is fascinating and beautiful; we were never taught this in history classes”.

Straightened Hair

In the early 1900s, Madam C.J. Walker received a patent for developing the “hot comb”, also known as a “pressing comb”.

This device was the first to be marketed by a black woman to other black women.

However, once the straightened hair was exposed to moisture, it would revert to its original state, the afro.

In the mid-19th century, the same African American woman created an ointment composed of several oils and revolutionised the styling of Afro-ethnic hair.

This ointment serves to prevent scalp dryness and soften the hair.

When the hot comb is heated on a fire to temperatures ranging from 150 to 250°C and combed through the hair, the tight afro curls' tresses become straight and silky smooth.

Hair straightening now served as a rite of passage and became a new cultural norm for all Afro-ethnic women.

The first straightening chemicals were developed around 1940.

They were rudimental preparations of sodium or potassium hydroxide blended with starch and were highly irritant to the scalp.

Reflecting on her own experiences, Jackie Claxton-Ruddock said, “Growing up, there were influences that didn’t like our natural hair; I tried to fit in, not to be ridiculed.

I have previously chemically straightened my hair; the last time was 18 years ago, and that was a fashion thing. Now I wear my afro it’s my choice”.

In later years, more advanced straightening formulas were developed, meaning that for the first time, Afro-ethnic hair could handle their hair if they wanted it straightened.

Since the 80s, modern kits have been sold to Afro-ethnic women all over the world that catering to different textured hair types and scalp sensitivities and are, of course, totally acceptable for young girls.

Merrisha Gordan said, “I started embracing my natural hair, and that was incredibly symbolic; I had gone to the funeral of somebody who was the same age as me, and it made me think about a lot of things that I wanted to do and try but hadn't necessarily felt brave enough.

And so Afro hair felt like one of those things that I wanted to embrace natural hair a lot more; I was just curious what would my hair do. If I kept it in its natural state and learned to love it, who would I be with natural hair? So that started a process for me; I remember going to the hairdressers, getting the last bit of relaxation cut out of my hair, and starting to rock my Afro in my late 20s”.

Black women still can't wear their natural hair in particular employment

Today society, black women still can't wear their natural hair in particular employment because it's deemed as being unprofessional.

Afro-textured hair with intricate designs is the wealth identity; it belongs to bringing together families and shared traditions. Your hair is a part of that person's body that cannot be patted and touched, as it's inappropriate to be stroked by random people.

This is a form of racial discrimination, and for black people, black hair, there's a whole added layer of colonialism that comes with that discrimination against black people's hair, as if the hair is like a separate part of that person's body.

In August 2021, Eammon Holmes, a presenter on the This Morning Show, commented on Dr Zoe William's afro hair, saying, “You just want to pet it, don’t you? It’s very alpaca”.

In workplaces and organisations, structural racism manifests in so many ways, one of which will be about people's hair, their dress or food, religious or cultural customs or beliefs, festivals or whatever.

That's a product of colonialism, which unfortunately continues to this day and is a massive legacy across the world. 400 years of enslavement of black people and dehumanizing and degradation and white science of eugenics that tried to prove that black people were less human.

These things are all connected, and they're all forms of racial discrimination which stem from a long history of imperialism, colonialism, enslavement, and basically dehumanizing of people who are black and people who are brown as well.

“When we look at cultural appropriation, why this whole argument of non-black people wearing braids is because there's an entire history. It is not just a hairstyle. Yes, it is a protective hairstyle now because we're not enslaved, but it came with a long linear of trauma and resilience and this whole history, so you don't get to wear that without showing homage and respect to that history”, said Tashi Brown.

Professor Syra Shakir said, “It's just disgusting and unacceptable. I would urge anybody to challenge openly, respectfully and professionally those sorts of instances on the basis that they are forms or manifestations of racial discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 is evident that racial discrimination about race or ethnicity, culture, religion, belief, gender and all the other characteristics is against the law.

In 2022, guidelines from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - whose job is to ensure everyone is treated equally in the UK, made recommendations for afro hair.

Case studies show that young pupils are being sent home from school because of their hair. Ruby William was repeatedly sent home from school on many occasions because her natural hair was too big. Halo-Workplace (halocollective.co.uk). Her family took legal action against the school. Ruby is now campaigning for World afro-hair Day.

Walsall girl's isolation for hairstyle is 'discrimination' - BBC News

Afro hair discrimination should be treated as racism, say MPs and campaigners - BBC Newsround

Merrisha worked for the NHS in a management position with her natural hair, and for her, it felt like she was flying a flag for other people to see that you could progress without needing to straighten your hair, without needing to conform to the western societal ideals of what hair looked like.