Season 1 - Episode 1 Black women’s hair

This week’s episode will take us through one of the most contentious issues both within the black community and externally.Black women’s hair. We have seen recently that France’s lower house of parliament has backed a bill banning discrimination based on hairstyle, colour or texture, in a “historic” move supporters say will help penalise workplace discrimination. In the US, at least 23 states have passed legislation aimed at protecting people from hair discrimination. And in the UK, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has issued guidelines against hair discrimination in schools. Black hair has a rich history, symbolizing both empowerment and individuality as well as survival and resistance for men and women. Hair was a sacred tool of communication in ancient African societies.Hair is an undeniable form of self-expression — a way to communicate to the world a part of your identity. But living in a culture steeped in systemic racism and sexism, hair can also be a catalyst for judgment and prejudice.“Hair matters — and it matters to all of us — because it is a form of non-verbal communication,” says social and cultural psychologist Johanna Lukate, Ph.D.During the 1950s and 1960s, natural Black hairstyles such as the Afro, became a pivotal part of the Black liberation movement and a symbol of the growing resistance in a racist America.  So, the Black Afros that we associate with people such as Angela Davis and the Black Panthers of the civil rights movement really became a symbol of resistance."Black women's hair is intentional, and limitless, and historical, and influential, and deeply political in a world often incapable of recognising the depths of its wonder.We also explore our own hair journey and memories, including body hair.