![]() ![]() It shaped history because, for some people, it shows a sense of rebellion, but for us, it shows our genetic makeup. "Cornrows spilled over into other cultures, which made it acceptable and palatable for them as well. Incidents such as Kim Kardashian and her "Bo Derek" braids remain etched in pop culture for its lack of acknowledgment for Black braiding history. Unfortunately, this encouraged cultural appropriation and cornrows became a trend. As cornrows became socially acceptable, they also became a "cool" hairstyle for other communities to copy. The Appropriation and Discrimination of CornrowsÄuring the 1990s and 2000s, cornrows became an extremely popular hairstyle that was increasingly showcased on TV and in music videos. We saw two-cornrow braids, cornrow braids with extensions, side cornrows, and jumbo box braids that elaborated on the freedom of expression. Between cornrows in the '60s and '70s and cornrows in the '90s, the variety of styles became more creative. ![]() Cornrows experienced a second resurgence in the '90s as inspired by other key celebrities like Jada Pinkett Smith and Janet Jackson. During the '70s, braids were celebrated for sure." An icon not to be forgotten, actress Cicely Tyson was the first Black woman to wear her natural hair and protective styling on TV and on magazine covers, which was a huge celebration for representation at the time. "She wore a lot of afrocentric hairstyles including cornrows. ![]() From my memory, the first person I can think of with braids would be Cicely Tyson," said Araxi Lindsey, hair department head for Netflix's The Harder They Fall. They started using their own hair and celebrating the things they've done traditionally as children. ![]() "Once Black people started celebrating their texture in the late '60s, early '70s, you had women that were tired of wearing the wigs and pressing their hair and pulling it back. The push towards the natural hair movement during this period reintroduced a love and playfulness with Black hair that had been previously stripped away by Western beauty ideals. "Cornrows became popular in the 1960s and 1970s thanks to an interest in embracing Black pride and natural hairstyles," Friend said. The Creativity, Art, and Messaging of CornrowsĬornrows saw a resurgence in the '60s and '70s during the civil rights movement in America. During colonialism, cornrows were also thought to be used as a tool of communication between enslaved people to pass on messages and routes of escape, and preserve the seeds of ancestral rituals. Unfortunately, the history of cornrows is equally as complex as it is beautiful, and looking back unearths a lot of pain and struggle. An integral part of a Black individual's identity, cornrows paved a way for bonding, socializing, and coming together. Very common for aesthetic purposes, these braids were signifiers for tribes and communities in regards to social position, age, marital status, occupation, or tribe. According to studies, cornrows originated in sub-Saharan Africa, with the earliest records of cornrows found on a cave painting in the Tassili Plateau around 3000 BC. "Cornrows date back for over 3000 years for women and for men, going back to parts of Africa," hairstylist and HASK ambassador Camille Friend told POPSUGAR. However, before the style's more contentious history, cornrows originated from a place of beauty. ![]()
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