These styles prove that Black hair is an event, Black hair is political, and Black hair is boundless.
, Black hair shows served as cultural incubators for creativity, community, commerce, and pride. They unapologetically showed the world that Black hair in its numerous reincarnations—whether braids, twists, or weaves—isn’t just beautiful.
It’s art. It’s boundless. It’s political. Today these shows illustrate that if Black lives matter, then Black hair, and the laws that seek to protect it, must matter as well.More than 35,000 attendees pack the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta each February and August for the Bronner Brothers International Beauty Show, a hair competition that originated over 70 years ago to showcase the style and ingenuity of Black hairstylists and barbers. Attendees from around the globe network with industry leaders, learn from the 100-plus courses led by master stylists, and, of course, watch the legendary Bronner Brothers Hair Battle. “The battle attracts the best of the best in the world,” says James Bronner, senior VP of Trade Show Operations for Bronner Bros., Inc. , the company his father Dr. Nathaniel H. Bronner Sr. and uncle Arthur E. Bronner Sr. started in 1947. While BB initially focused on selling hair products, Nathaniel’s interactions with his customers revealed 1) that they were professionals who wanted to grow in their craft, and 2) that they were immensely creative. Nathaniel would snap pictures of the most extraordinary styles, publish them, and offer cash prizes for the top designs. Three-hundred people attended the first BB event, which “became a platform for people to launch their careers,” says James. From childhood, he watched his father and uncle empower and educate attendees, who enjoyed hearing from the business and civic leaders who spoke, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Benjamin Mays. Today, six to eight contestants of the invite-only hair battle are allotted 15 minutes to wow the judges as they cut, transform, and style onstage. Contestants are judged on creativity, neatness, theme, and overall presentation. Contestants spare no expense, says James, who estimates that some spend an upwards of $10,000 creating their eye-popping masterpieces. The winner receives a championship belt resembling a heavyweight boxing belt, a $50,000 cash prize, and lifetime bragging rights. “It takes stylists to another level in their industry,” says James, noting that some champions go on to work for celebrities. For example, BB champion Terrence Davidson has since worked with Nicki Minaj, Patti Labelle, and Tyra Banks, among others.Master stylist Merlande Petithomme’s website proudly notes that she’s a four-time BB champion, which keeps her Georgia salon busy. The first-generation Haitian-American, who has competed in more than a dozen hair competitions, constantly pushes herself to outdo her last competitive feat. “When I do a hair battle, it’s like making a movie,” says Petithomme. Like any skilled Hollywood producer, she hires a writer and assistant; brainstorms themes; creates an overarching vision; and, finally, finds dancers, models, musicians, and makeup artists to bring the project to life. Petithomme is known for her 2017 Caribbean Carnival–themed performance, during which she rode in on a camel and styled models’ hair in bright pinks, yellows, and greens. “It was real high fashion, runway hair, but sculptured, fantasy hair,” she says. Although she didn’t win, her entry remains a standout, says James. Petithomme insists that standing out is paramount to winning. In Netflix’s docuseries, an exploration of all sorts of unique competitions, she said “Some people win, but they don't get talked about. The show isn't memorable. Merlande will be memorable!”Petithomme, who buys some of her materials at The Home Depot, describes herself as a “hair architect:” “I always relate hair to building a house. The foundation has to be stable. So whenever I create a fantasy look, I have to make sure that the piece fits and that it’s stabilized,” she explains. Natural hair specialist Kelsie Lyn agrees that competitive hairstyling is a unique art form. “Anyone can do hair, but not everybody can do this kind or art,” she says. The Long Beach, California, celebrity stylist has amassed a fan base even though she has only competed in shows since 2016. “Kelsie is a favorite,” says Rwanda Ray, creator of the Afrolicious Natural Hair© & Beauty Expo. “Her stuff is so different, so out of the box,” Ray adds.Ray created the expo in 2013 to celebrate the natural kinks and coils of Black hair. What began as a 100-person gathering in Los Angeles burgeoned into a nationwide series with annual events in six different cities that draws thousands of naturals. Ray added the Afrolicious Natural Hair and Braiding Competition to the expo in 2017 to showcase local stylists and wow attendees. Lyn didn’t sleep for two weeks before the 2019 Los Angeles competition because she wanted to perfect her looks, and Ray says that competitors commonly go through such extreme lengths to win because, “they don’t want to be outdone! They’re showmen and show women.” “Avant-Garde” was the theme of that 2019 competition, and contestants were given boxes of colorful RastAfri hair to test their creativity. “I wanted to create otherworldliness in space,” says Lyn. After weeks of brainstorming, designing styles, and preparing looks for seven models, she made what she describes as “out-of-this-world elegance” for her seven-minute showcase. Her galactic looks garnered several awards, including “Most Creative” and the second-place overall prize. Lyn says she’s getting her feet wet in the competition world in order to eventually compete on a stage as big as BB.The Afrolicous expo and BB hair battle both champion the beauty and versatility of braids and braiding techniques. In competition, braids can serve as the belle of the battle or the foundation for a spectacular sewn-in style. A head-turning design at the February 2020 BB hair show was crafted by master braider Ashley Roberson, best known as “Grip and Twist” to her clients in Columbia, South Carolina. Roberson put forth a unique take on the butterfly braid, crafting a mohawk version. She braided the natural hair down the scalp in two large cornrows, smoothed the edges with gel, and then added the braided butterfly extension to the cornrows. Roberson attached two floor-length braids to the centered butterfly, added colorful smaller butterfly hairpins and white lights into the braids, and finished the model’s look with a gold cape that served as wings. Roberson had turned heads previously. At the August 2019 BB show, she crafted a 10-foot-long braid in under 10 minutes. The model wrapped the design around her neck as a necklace and held it her hands like a purse. Giddy expo attendees jumped rope with it. Roberson always pushes her creativity against convention, telling students in her seminars: “Don’t be put into a box!”In the world of competitive hairstyling, out of the box is the norm. The bigger, the more eye-popping, the more jaw-dropping, the more likely a competitor is to walk away with the top prize. An up-and-coming competitor is Wakia-Sukari Gipson, a master braider based in Compton, California. Gipson snagged the first-place prize at the 2019 L.A. Afrolicious competition with a –inspired entry, which, honestly, was too grandiose to describe here, although a moment worth mentioning is the two-headed alien that pompously paraded red, purple, and yellow chrysanthemums made of synthetic hair. In order to transform the hair into flowers, Gipson copied the technique used to make silk flowers. “I had to figure out a way for the hair to mimic ribbon,” she says, so she straightened and fused the hair with hairspray and a blow dryer, and then constructed the flowers with bobby pins. Gipson uses the craft of hair braiding to inspire, educate, and give back to her community. She teaches braiding at the Roy W. Roberts II Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles, where she spent her after-school hours as a teenager. Gipson notes that it’s important to teach her students the centuries-old history behind hair braiding. “I teach them that when we were in our homeland, .” Royalty, for example, typically flaunted the most elaborate braided presentations. Outside of Africa, on the lands where enslaved Africans were forced to live, braids sometimes symbolized liberty. “Women would Black Hair Is Political Today, braided hairstyles represent cultural pride and personal expression—and they still symbolize freedom. Most states don’t give Black women and men the legal protection to wear braids at work and school. On July 3, 2019, to pass the CROWN Act, which banned discrimination against natural hairstyles like braids, twists, and locs in public schools and workplaces. New York and five other states quickly followed suit, along with a few cities. In September of last year, the U.S. House of Representatives , which would have banned discrimination against natural hairstyles at the national level if approved by the Senate and signed into law. However, the Senate didn’t vote on the bill before Congress adjourned at the end of 2020. For the act to become federal law, it must be reintroduced and voted on by the current Congress. Supporters of the act insist that the road is long to see discriminatory hair laws and policies become relics of the past.“Very few of our federal representatives are going to step out on faith and know that they need to pass this until they see that people believe it,” says New York State Assemblywoman Tremaine S. Wright, who sponsored
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