Welcome to Litsy!

Emma Dabiri is a teaching fellow in the Africa Department at SOAs and a Visual Sociology PhD researcher at Goldsmith‘s College. This passionate, fascinating and very interesting book uses black hair as the basis for examining racial attitudes, colonial attitudes, double standards and how it damages Black people and mixes Dabiri‘s personal experience with history, sociology, and anthropology to produce a nuanced, thought-provoking read.

After reading this book, I understand the title of the book better than when I started. Looking at the politicisation of hair, straightening of the hair to fit in and have “normal” hair, the trend of the Afro and braiding of hair. Through all this Dabiri looks at African history and how this is completely different from what we learn.

Although this appropriation of time happened in Europe as well. We see the same processes in full force in Britain when universal education was introduced in 1870. The imperative behind this wasn‘t to create a nation of scholars, and it certainly wasn‘t to make society more equal. It was introduced to transform the children of artisanal workers and farmers into compliant factory and shop workers; teaching them to be punctual, docile and sober,

Per the book‘s description, “Black hair is never ‘just hair.‘ This book is about why black hair matters.” If this is a topic of interest for you, this book is very thorough. Audiobook is read by the author and she does a good job.

This is so good. This is a wide ranging and compelling look at why black hair matters and why matters relating to it are so complicated. It's about hair, but it's also about the history of the oppression of black people across hundreds of years - from pre-colonial Africa through to the present day. Read this rather than Self Made/Madam CJ Walker.

Next read.

I am using the tagged book for this prompt for my #popsugarchallenge as the author has African ancestry

Good. Very well written and has given me a new perspective on this subject. This book talks about the importance of the relationship African and African Americans have with their hair and how historically important it has been down the centuries. Thank you #Netgalley for the free copy.

#Penquin
@PenguinPublishing
@penguinrandomhouse