Pamela Johnson, a former Senior Editor of Essence magazine and now a frequent contributor, is a graduate of Stanford University.​

Juliette Harris is the editor of International Review of African American Art (IRAAA), which is published by Hampton University Museum in Virginia. She is the editor of In the Memory of Frances, Zora and Lorraine: Essays and Interviews on Black Women. Her prize-winning plays and TV productions include JUBA, the PBS series on African folklore. She has an MA in American Studies from the College of William and Mary, an MS in TV from Syracuse University, and a BA in history from Virginia Union University.

Ntozake Shange (1948–2018) was a poet, novelist, playwright, and performer. She wrote the Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, as well as numerous works of fiction, including Sassafras, Cypress & Indigo; Betsey Brown; and Lilian.

Contents

Ms. Strand Calls a Press Conference

Peace Be Still

NTOZAKE SHANGE

Heads of Steam

Madam C. J. Walker: "Let Me Correct the Erroneous Impression That I Claim to Straighten Hair"

A'LELIA BUNDLES

The Hairdresser and the Scholar

MARK HIGBEE

Severed

ANNABELLE BAKER

It All Comes Down to the Kitchen

HENRY LOUIS GATES JR.

The Kink That Winked

CYNTHIA COLBERT

Tenderheaded, or Rejecting the Legacy of Being Able to Take It

MEG HENSON SCALES

Baby Hair

Baby Hair

CONSTANCE NICHOLS

A Day at the Beach

KAY BROWN

Learning the Language of My Daughter's Hair

PETER HARRIS

Hair (R)evolution

CYNTHIA COLBERT

Things My Mother Never Taught Me

JACQUELYN LONG

Tenderheaded

NIKKY FINNEY

Cornrow Calculations (or Math Is Beauty)

TONI WYNN

Store-Bought Hair

Fake

GERRIE SUMMERS

Planet Hair

LISA JONES

Hair Braiding, Miss?

TAIIA SMART

Madam Speaks

MARK RICHARD MOSS

Straight Talk

Relax Your Mind!

JENYNE M. RAINES

When Black Hair Tangles with White Power

MARIAME KABA

Hot Comb

NATASHA TRETHEWEY

Straightening Our Hair

BELL HOOKS

A Rio Crime

LAURA SULLIVAN

A Short History of Early Hair Straightening

WILLIE MORROW

All-Time Top Hair Divas

JENYNE RAINES

Wrappers' Delight

Under Cover

HALIMA TAHA

Grandma Blows Her Top

GLORIA WADE GAYLES

Uplift

LIDDY JONES

Bandanna

MICHAEL D. HARRIS

The Culture of Hair Sculpture

JULIETTE HARRIS

Pillow Talk

If You Let Me Make Love to You, Then Why Can't I Touch Your Hair?

CHERILYN "LIV" WRIGHT

Battle of the Wigs

GEORGE C. WOLFE

White Boyfriend

EVANGELINE WHEELER

Hagar's Blues

TONI MORRISON

Dekar's Touch

PAMELA JOHNSON

When Worlds Collide

The Curse (and Redemption) of Short Hair

THOMAS "TAIWO" DUVALL

Hair Hysteria

S. PEARL SHARP

Afro Images: Politics, Fashion and Nostalgia

ANGELA Y. DAVIS

Daughters of Africa

EVANGELINE WHEELER

On Short Nappy Hair and the Business of Blackness: From Ohio to South Africa

PAITRA D. RUSSELL

Smooth Heated Stones and Sunlight Soap

ROSALIE KIAH

Crowning Glories: Hair, Head, Style, and Substance in Yoruba Culture

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY HENRY JOHN DREWAL

No Longer Stranded

IDARA E. BASSEY

Silver Foxes

My Smart Gray Streak

YVONNE DURANT

Attitude at Seventy-Five

NAOMI LONG MADGETT

In Her Hair

S. PEARL SHARP

Homage to My Hair

LUCILLE CLIFTON

Something's Lost in Living Every Day

LEATHA SIMMONS MITCHELL

She Who Mirrors Me

RUBY DEE

Gray Strands

NAOMI LONG MADGETT

Locks and Keys

Don't Even Pretend (The Saturn Poem)

PETER HARRIS

In the Kitchen

JEWELLE GOMEZ

The Call

TAMARA JEFFRIES

Clean Break

JILL NELSON

My Bold Black Statement

SUSAN L. TAYLOR

Post-Traumatic Tress Syndrome

DENISE L. DAVIS, M.D.

In Sickness and in Health

FRANKIE ALEXANDER

Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain

ALICE WALKER

A Happy Nappy Hair-Care Affair

LINDA JONES

Ms. Strand Adjourns

About the Contributors