A.M. Darke is first person to create an open-source platform dedicated to black hair.
Darke, an assistant professor at UC Santa Cruz, holds a B.A. in Design and an M.F.A. in Media Arts, both from UCLA. Additionally she is a conceptual artist, game designer, and activist designing games for social impact. Her work has been shown internationally. While working on a project of her own in 2019 she ran into poorly designed typical African American hair tropes and recognized the need for an open-source platform dedicated to Black hair for game designers/players.
This led to the idea and formation of the Open Source Afro Hair Library, slated to launch on Juneteenth 2023. It will be the industry’s ’s first free database of 3D-modeled Black hairstyles. Although it is still in process a few styles and bios of the all Black 3D artists can be seen here.
Black hair has long been undervalued, and poorly represented. Not only in gaming or other types of simulations, but also with toys available, non-toxic hair care products by big name companies, and television. Proper representation can help eliminate prejudice and restore a sense of cultural pride.
In pre-colonial African societies hairstyles were a source of pride as they were used to inform others regarding tribal affiliations, religious and even social status. They were expressions of beauty and identity. Immediately upon being forced into slavery their heads were shaved prior to being shipped overseas. Given its traditional importance captives were losing a lot more than hair.
As the slave’s hair grew back, they were without the natural herbs and oils they needed in order to make the needed concoctions which caused their hair to be soft, moisturized, and grow long. Being without the things they needed to take care of their natural hair, the texture was coarse, not easy to work with or long.
Being resourceful they braided their hair into protective styles while working. Braids were also used as maps marking out the route to freedom, and as a way for mothers to hide small food items such as rice when they knew they’d be separated from their children.
Slave masters likened their kinky coils to cotton, wool, bad and unkempt. Slaves with kinky or textured hair were sold for less than those who had finer strands as a result of sharing DNA with their slave masters. Eventually slaves accepted these stereotypes regarding their own hair as truth. Pressing, perming, and wearing synthetic hair became the ideal standard as more slaves received their freedom and sought work within the community.
Prior to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, enslaved persons were able to buy back their freedom while it was under Spanish rule. Freed African and Creole women began experimenting with how they wore their hair, often adorning it with jewels and feathers. During this time there was also an increase in interracial relationships in New Orleans. The Spanish governor Esteban Rodriguez Miró felt that Creole women of color we’re attracting too much attention with their appearance, were becoming too light skinned, and competing too freely with white women, therefore threatening the social order. In an effort to address this he passed the tignon laws.
A tignon is a cloth hair wrap. The idea was for hair to be covered in unattractive drab colored cloth. Instead, free women defiantly obeyed the law by choosing brightly colored fabrics and adorning those as well. Although the tignon laws were abandoned once Louisiana was purchased by the United States, Black women continue to wear head wraps today, turning something that was meant to diminish into a symbol of pride and business such as with https://yougonatural.com/.
Although the laws have been abandoned, policing of Black hair continues. Black hair in its natural state is commonly rejected as being professional. In 1963 the late Cicely Tyson became the first woman to wear her hair in a natural state on television sparking a natural hair trend in the Black community. There is still a push to be allowed to wear Black hair naturally in public schools and workplaces without prejudice.
In 2019, the CROWN Act was created by Dove and the CROWN coalition. The C.R.O.W.N. Act stands for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” To date, the Crown Act has been passed in 12 states. With these small wins, comes the hope of a future where one can show up as their truest self without the fear of discrimination.
A native of Phoenix, Arizona Aundrea Sayrie is a firm believer in the power of words, faith and a strong spirit. Her greatest desire is to encourage those around her to discover and honor their truth, and to passionately live on purpose.
