Cultivating African Hair Stories
The roots of African hair have been revealed in various mediums, and with numerous angles. However, most research and commentary on Black hair comes alongside the gaze of white supremacy. But what about Black hair in Black spaces? Join Dr. LaToya Brackett as she seeks to cultivate the hair stories
of African women and men on the continent.
Dr. LaToya Brackett in Zanzibar 2021
LaToya lives and works in Tacoma Washington as an Assistant Professor of African American Studies.
She has been an avid traveler since her first international trip at the age of 16 to Belize for a conference on globalization. A local non-profit she volunteered for in her hometown of Charlottesville, VA, invited and hosted her. LaToya’s journey with witnessing and wondering about Black hair in Black spaces began when she first traveled to Ghana in 2009.
She always recalls her confusion and disappointment when she saw most of the Ghanaian women wearing relaxed hair, not natural. She thought: “I thought this was the motherland. Is our hair not beautiful here either?”
Contact LaToya for more info.
"Black Hair in Black Places: Detangling the Burden of our Crowns Beyond White Borders."
In March 2023, Dr. LaToya published her first peer-reviewed article about her Black hair in Black places research. You can find it on page 44 in the Annual Report by the National Council for Black Studies HERE.