Everything about our natural kinky hair began in Africa. The different hair textures of African people ranges from deep ebony, kinky curl of the Mandingos, to the loosely curled flowing locks of the Ashanti. (This is were the woman with Murder Inc. records got her name)
In the early fifteenth century, hair functioned as a carrier of messages in most West African societies. The citizens of these societies - including the Wolof, Mende, Mandingo, and Yoroba were people who filled the slave ships that sailed to the New World. Within these cultures, hair was an integral part of a complex language system. Hairstyles were used to indicate a persons' marital status, age, religion, ethnic identity, geographic origins, wealth, and rank within the community.
"Things are different for the American Black men. How he knows himself today is reflected in his understanding of the past. Since the beauty standard here is still European, we must hold onto what we are because we can never be what we are not. Let us observe the history of our African beauty legends for they are the depositors of our beauty ideas. Cultivation of physical beauty has been one of great pain in the African-American experience, we must regenerate our true beauty aesthetic."
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