Haircare as a space for Healing
The ritual of haircare has long been a space for communion, political discourse, and love in Black communities. It has followed from our African origins, sitting at the knees of our ancestors and our peers and shifted to our barbershops and beauty salons, where it became spaces for linkages to job opportunities, and social clubs.
But always, it has been a place for healing. A place where the work is done that creates an outward presentation of the beauty of our souls.
The Museum of African American History states: “ Since the turn of the 19th century, beauty salons and barber shops have served as special places among African Americans. They have been places not only to get hair care services but locations where black people could be vulnerable and talk about issues of importance in the community. There were spaces where customers played games such as chess, cards, and dominoes, while having conversations about local gossip, politics, and community affairs.”
STATE OF THE NATION and A BLIND EYE both capture the pivotal role barbershops and the rituals of haircare plays in healing and communicating love in an insular setting, and how this works to oppose institutional, systemic racism and homophobia.
To read more: https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog/community-roles-barber-shop-and-beauty-salon
Or even better, click the button to purchase STATE OF THE NATION or A BLIND EYE hardcopy or ebook.
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Eye-David-Jackson-Ambrose/dp/1648902480
State of the Nation uses the barbershop as a political space where characters discuss the specifics of the Atlanta murders that are not being discussed by mainstream media. There were other murders that were occurring at the same time and that had similarities but were not included in the list because of various agendas.
In A Blind Eye, Max cuts off Babe’s dreadlocks. For Max, the ritual is a way to show he cares for Babe. For Babe, the removal of his dreads represents change, a casting off of the old and forging ahead onto new horizons.
Max also owns a beauty shop. The beauty shop is a space that shows the importance of family and kinship ties. The women that come to the shop are coming to be taken care of and made more beautiful, but they also show their love for Max by bringing him food, cleaning up the shop, and showing their love of him by also caring for Babe.