The Notorious African Hair

The Afro-Textured hair, the hair of the Blacks, the pride of the Blacks and the bane of the ‘responsible’ Nigerian. There is one thing all of us Nigerian teens can attest to about all the generations from our parents’ upwards and that is the stark negativity they feel about our trends. They are so bent on culture, so bent on being ‘right’ and ‘natural’ and so most importantly bent on cutting your hair every Friday afternoon. Matter of fact, it is so bad that staff in certain ‘international’ schools in the country use rulers to measure boys’ hair strands when the opportunity presents itself. Universities (like the University of Ilorin) demand that boys keep their hair short. Which raises the question: ‘What is so notorious about the African hair?’

As usual I did my investigations and questionings and as usual I have found many interesting details. But first let me give y’all a brief biological and historical story of the afro-textured hair.

It was in Africa that the first major emigration started; then the early humans (hominids) began the great migration to different parts of the world. This would mean that all the early humans were most likely alike at that moment, the same color of skin, the same texture of hair (some scientists have argued that all the hominids hair type was the afro-textured) and the same culture. The people that stayed in the land of Africa would turn out to be our greatest ancestors, and evolution, climate and adaptation will play its role on their bodies and allow them survive in their chosen regions. So due to the excessive UV rays in sunlight, high temperature and the savannah regions the afro-textured hair allows for better body temperature regulation. It is to be noted that all hair in the world is made from the same material, but the difference from the afro-textured hair is just the distribution of lipids. Enough of the science talk.

Over the course of time African civilizations came to love and respect this hair of ours, keeping it, grooming it and adorning it. The Bantu Fang tribe of now Gabon (Cameroon and some parts of the Republic Congo as well) boasted an asymmetrically styled afro-textured hair with beautiful beading embroidery. It was a sign of wealth, a good fashion and grooming this hair was free (also nearly sacred) and often carried out by beloved friends, clan members and family. Early Nigerian art represented our civilizations (including the men) of those days adorned with beautiful hairstyles if and when their sometimes bald heads are not covered in a cap.

 

Fang Man

So why is the modern elderly Nigerian society against this trend? It is cultural; it is our identity, so why are they contradicting themselves?

The answer is something that has always been a torn in my flesh and that will be colonization. Our bastardized culture has lost many key things that were once seen as ‘small’ or ‘insignificant’. The grooming of hair was firstly industrialized as foreign ideals of beauty and the acceptable standards changed because of socialization, globalization and colonization.

Famous Nigerian Comedian: Basket Mouth

The dreadlocks are often associated with the Rastafarians of Jamaica are also seen as one of these socially unacceptable norms in Nigeria. The Rastas are of the belief that the smoking of cannabis is a sacrament with beneficial properties and their movements have often caused conflicts with Jamaica as a whole. The negativities that have become tied to the dreadlocks of the Rastas have somehow managed to permeate into the Nigerian culture and soil that hairstyle. But that can never be more wrong. In Nigeria, some children are born with naturally locked hair and are given a special name: "Dada". Yoruba priests of Olokun, the Orisha of the deep ocean, (also) wear locks. Actually if an Igbo man wears the Yoruba ‘Dada’ how else can he further nationalism? In the real sense, the Rastas took this hair from Africa we didn’t take it from them!

Although the death of Philando Castile an African-American who was murdered by a policeman (for no reason) was alleged to match a description of a suspect. You’ll never guess his hairstyle. Dreadlocks!

The afro-textured hair was also an iconic form of protesting in the United States of America, as Blacks used the hairstyle to propagate African-American Civil Rights Movement and a sense of finding identity with themselves as the then acceptable standard was that the straighter less kinkier hair was more ‘professional’ and much more ‘serious’.

 

American Activist: Angela Davis

Reading Chimamanda’s book Americanah revealed to me more on the topic of hair and its power of identity. When Ifemelu (the main character) decides to stop relaxing her hair and go ‘natural’ she feels more of a sense of purpose and takes better control of her life. In earlier parts of the book it was also revealed that her mother had long natural beautiful hair that made people ask if she was partly not from Nigeria. The fashion was that beautiful hair is the one that looks less African. What?!

I have been speaking solely socially, how bout we look at the African hair’s notoriety from the professional aspect? The average Nigerian male lawyer cannot keep an ‘unacceptable hairstyle’ because any elderly stereotypical judge that sees him will not have a good first impression. And if you want to learn anything about Nigerian courts today, you should know that first impressions never change. You wouldn’t want your lawyerly first impression to be ‘scoundrel’ would you?

Here’s what Barrister F.O Chumu (Esq.) has to say regarding this issue of law and hairstyle:

‘It doesn’t really affect legal practice, but it says so much about the individual. In Africa, yes, within our own culture a hairstyle has something to do with how society classifies the individual.

‘And as a lawyer in Africa or anywhere on Earth you are regarded as someone that is noble, someone that is honorable, someone that should be decent. And then there are hairstyles that defeat or represent a class of people. Like the musicians, they keep a particular kind of hairstyle. Like the fashionable individuals, the “fashionists” they keep a particular kind of style. The footballers as well, there is also this kind of style they keep to reflect who they are or to attract fans.

‘But the legal man is supposed to be somber. He’s not supposed to solicit for attention. So I think a somber hairstyle will best fit a lawyer given that there are some ethics he is supposed to live by.’

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

Stubbornness. Know your culture, love it and don’t let anyone push you over something as personally important as a haircut. If you feel that your hairstyle is unique to you, stick with it, our frizzy, springy hair was made to grow and you can grow it.

The only thing notorious about the African hair is combing it.