Two world wars, the Civil Rights movement, and a Jheri curl later, Blacks in America continue to have a complex and convoluted relationship with their hair. From the antebellum practice of shaving the head in an attempt to pass as a "free" person to the 1998 uproar over a White third-grade teacher's reading of the book Nappy Hair, the issues surrounding Black hair linger as we enter the twenty-first century. Tying the personal to the political and the popular, Hair Story takes a chronological look at the culture behind the ever-changing state of Black hair-from fifteenth century Africa to the present-day United States. Hair Story is the book that Black Americans can use as a benchmark for tracing a unique aspect of their history and that people of all races will celebrate as the reference guide for understanding Black hair. Author Biography: Ayana D. Byrd holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University's Barnard College. She is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Vibe, Rolling Stone, Honey and InStyle magazine. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Lori L. Tharps attended Smith College and received a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Currently, she is a correspondent at Entertainment Weekly magazine. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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