I recently had the honor of discussing the black hair culture in America with Dr. JoAnne Cornwell, and she feels the conversation is long overdue.

Dr. Cornwell is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies and French at San Diego State University.  Her extensive research of African descended cultures worldwide has given her a unique understanding of how deeply hair issues effect cultural identity in African American culture.  This rich grasp of the history of her people, combined with her personal family history in the hair care industry, inspired her to begin her own company, Sisterlocks.  Her book, That Hair Thing, is due to be re-released to coincide with the opening of Chris Rock’s, Good Hair on October 9^th.

Dr. Cornwell is a well respected expert in natural hair care.  She has toured internationally as a lecturer and consultant, and is the recipient of the natural hair care industry’s 2009 S.E.L.F. Image Award.

SG:  The Sisterlocks method has had such a profound impact on black hair styling.  I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the new movie.  Have you had an opportunity to screen it?

AC:  No, I haven’t.  There were no screenings near me.  It (the movie) definitely highlights that there is a real issue here for black women.  The issue really does need to be brought to the forefront.  I have found that this topic comes up occasionally when there is something big.

SG:  Considering your personal journey and life’s work, you must have been excited to see this subject in the media on such a large scale.  What are your hopes for the movie?

AC:  I can’t say I have hopes because, I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but generally when people in main stream do this, they do not consult people in the natural hair care industry.  They do not get into all of the solutions that have been developed and the whole subculture of black hair.  Some of the things they pose as dilemmas are really not dilemmas anymore.  They are not heavy on solutions.

SG:  Just last week, I received a press release from an African hair stylist that proclaimed, “Black Women NEED extensions!”  In your book, you said, “I am happy to say that I have grown out of any need I might have to be judgmental about hair styling choices made by individual women”, but any time such an emotionally laden issue is discussed, there is the possibility of controversy.  What are your hopes for the way the African American community receives this movie, and handles any differing opinions that arise in the discussion it produces?

AC:  I do hope that it will start a far reaching dialogue.  That is the best thing that can come out of it.  There are going to be things that some people like or don’t, but as long as the conversation begins, that is good.  I would love to be part of that conversation.  I fully intend to be a part of it.

From where we have comes as a culture, I know we need to be really honest and forthright about why we do what we do.  We need to discuss why we are satisfied with the options that don’t really work.

SG:  I had the opportunity to read portions of your soon to be re-released book, That Hair Thing.  The first two chapters discuss your own hair journey at length, while contemplating the larger issue of black America’s self concept when it comes to hair.

In chapter two, you paint a picture of a mother preparing her daughter for school:  the braids, beads, and Vaseline…Then you said, “By three o’clock, our daughter has learned from her new mainstream environment that the stuff on her head is not exactly hair, she is greasy, and she has no sense of style.”

This resonated with me because I have found it frustrating to work so hard to instill into my daughters an acceptance and love for their hair only to find it so quickly compromised by their school environment.  I have had one daughter rip Zulu knots from her hair half way through the school day.

Once, my youngest daughter said to me, “Mommy, when I grow up, I want to have hair like…” and she named four little white girls from her class.  I said, “Honey, those little girls are all white.  God made your hair curly, and it is beautiful…”  It is so hard to counteract.

What advice do you have for mothers as they combat this issue in their daughters?

AC:  (If it is a white mother of a black child) try to find a black woman who can help you along.  It is helpful to have an environment where other black people are okay with their hair.  The mothers need to educate themselves (about black hair).

(If it is a black mother-) Very often as African Americans, if we live in black communities and don’t have a lot of exposure to white people, we may not feel as comfortable checking out the environment and being present.  However, if a mother escorts her child to school and sees that everyone is not like that child, she will be better able to help her daughter.  It is the responsibility of the parent to protect that child and to understand the environment.  It is important to provide the child with as much information as possible as to what they are getting into.

Check in with the child.  If the child is experiencing some kind of emotional battering-know this.  Overall, the principles of good parenting apply here.

The problem is that it is often invisible that black women’s hair is different.  We hide our natural hair texture.  As long as it is going on in families, these girls are not going to be able to deal with this.  The children have no frame of reference in the home.  She (the child) is receiving from a world that has no understanding of her hair.

SG:  How do parents go about re-instilling self acceptance, and mending broken hearts?

AC:  Our black moms are dealing with their own complexes, so it takes a different kind of work to be prepared to do this.  The conclusion is that we need more information and we need to talk more about these things.  To say, “All hair is good hair” is a slogan.  The reality is that it does not get to the core of why people feel the way they feel about themselves.  It is what we need to talk about before we get to styles.

SG:  By this point, many of my readers are itching to learn a little bit more about Sisterlocks!  On your web-site, you say that the first session can take from 10- 15 hours, and can be split into 2 sittings to make it less strenuous; the average style consists of 400 locks!

How much time does it take to maintain the style, and what is the cost comparison for other hair styles?

AC:  After the style is established, it needs to be tightened every four to eight weeks; four if the hair slips a lot; eight, if it is slow growing and has no issues.  The average is every 6 – 8 weeks.   It usually takes 3 ½ -4 hours to tighten.

We recommend that the stylist charge by the hour.  The low end is $20.00, with the salon price between $35.00 and $40.00 per hour.  The typical fee of $25.00 for four hours of labor is $100.00 every two months, which is less expensive than relaxer.

Sisterlocks are as close to carefree as you can get.  It is your own hair and it is continuing to grow.  You just shampoo it.  If you want to style it, you style it.

SG:  I understand that the best hair for Sisterlocks is tight, coarse hair.  My youngest daughter has very thick, and curly, but not coarse hair.  Would Sisterlocks work for her hair type?

AC:  Possibly.  The procedure we have in place tests the hair before we get into it.  We test not only curl patterns, but whether the shaft is smooth or not.  There are several tests, including a test set of locks.

SG:  Finally, what changes would you like to see in the black community to foster a greater sense of self-acceptance, and pride?

AC:  The professionals need to be retrained and become competent in what we now call, “natural hair care”.  The two sides need to come together, so that it is not so hard to get the issues addressed.  We need to prepare professionals to meet our hair care needs.  While we are seeing a growing number of professionals in our classes, we need the cosmetology side to embrace us.

In closing, I would like to say that I think that what you have done by embracing your daughters is a gift that enriches their lives.  The best thing that ever happened to me was being born black and being born a woman.  We (black women) have such potential for spreading our arms and bringing people into an understanding of what it means to be human in a way people have not contemplated.  One of the things I love about Sisterlocks is that it gives me that opportunity.