My hair sits in a round afro with coils that refuse to listen to what I beg it to do every morning; a proud existence that is often covered in a protective style like braids or weave. Though I may be proud of my natural hair, I have accepted that it is something that can be shamed; and that fact is something that most black women have to learned to accept. Even with protective styles, only certain ones are seen appropriate in the workforce. Braids are seen as “dirty”, locs are “unprofessional” which leave many black women with few options but to wear straight hair when entering the workforce.
That’s why when I see Kim Kardashian K********n wearing “Bo Derek” braids ( what every black woman in this world calls Fulani Braids) I can’t help but feel heated.
While I generally avoid all mentioning of the K********n Clan and their daily missteppings, these kinds of mistakes shouldn’t be allowed.
First of all let’s break this down:
- Bo Derek, who’s real name is Mary Cathleen Collins, is white film actress who’s most famously known for starring in the 1979 film “10”. In the film, she runs down the beach, fulani braids swinging.
- When questioned about her choice to wear fulani braids (that was done by a black hairstylist), she said “[that] she knew where it came from but that had nothing to do with it”. Furthermore, she said that “No, seriously, of all the important racial and cultural issues we have right now, people are going to focus on a hairstyle?... I’ll save my efforts toward important racial and cultural issues.”
- Currently, Bo Derek does not publicly support any organization that is specifically focused on progressing or supporting the Black community in the US or abroad.
After discovering all of what I inherently knew, I can definitively say that Bo Derek doesn’t sound like anyone I want to emulate; much less name a hairstyle after. Appropriation of black culture may not seem like that big of a deal but when a woman who is taking from a culture that she has no merit to changes the name of a style, gets called an innovator, and receives praise for it; it’s a snub to all the black women who get told that they need to change their hair to an “appropriate” style or that their hair is too “urban”. Yes, you read that correctly, “too urban” (read here about Destiny’s battle with an employer over her braids).
The truth needs to be told.
Fulani braids originate from the Fula (or Fulani Tribe) native to West Africa, one of the largest groups to inhabit that area. Their hair is usually long braided into five braids, decorated with silver coins and shells for prosperity and beauty. Drawn from Un-ruly.com, these braids are done in a unique pattern that has five identifiable characteristics:
- One cornrow braided down the center of your head from front to back
- One or two cornrows on each side of your head braided from back to front, with the tails hanging on each side of your head
- A braid wrapped around the perimeter of your head (although the American take of this look often leaves it out)
- Beads, cowry shells, gold clips dispersed throughout the braids
They are called Fulani braids and any other name is incorrect.This style is that is unique to the Fulani people and it should be credited to them so that their history can be preserved and appreciated. Any other arguments against this fact are forgetting that this issue is not just hair.
This is not “just hair”, this is non-black women getting praised for what I get punished for. This is not “just hair” when black women as a whole get suspended for wearing braids in school (read about the Cook sisters who received detention and almost suspension for their “distracting hairstyle”), get fired for wearing braids, and are perceived negatively by the world no matter which hairstyle they wear. To say that this is “just hair” is to negate the experiences of Black women globally and to negate my experiences now as a young professional having to decide what hairstyle to wear for a job interview. It’s not “just hair” when what grows out of my scalp isn’t professional but the styles that protect it aren’t either.
Do I choose to be proud or do I choose to be employed?
I’m sure Kim K********n doesn’t have to worry about that.
