History lesson # 1

History of
Cornrow Braiding

Civil Rights 3.c

From Civil War to Civil Rights

 
 
 
 

In the 1950s, the revolts against colonialism in Africa and the stirrings of a new cultural politics in America inspired alternatives to straightening techniques. Black artists, scholars, and activists began to look toward African styles. One of the first to make a trip to Africa was artist John Biggers. He realized that the cornrow styles he had seen growing up in North Carolina were actually survivals of African tradition. In his book of drawings that he published from this trip he writes: “Many West African hair styles are worn by Negro women in the United States, including this one—“cornrows.” The hair is greased, combed, and tightly plaited. The ends of the hair that fall upon the neck are tied by a string. The comb has been carved from hard wood”

 

 

 

 

 http://csdt.rpi.edu/african/cornrow_curves/culture/civil.rights.2.htm