It’s always been about more than a haircut

There’s no denying the restorative power of self-care businesses. Salons and barbershops are places where we can treat ourselves, indulge in a little luxury, and gain a confidence boost. 

For Black Americans, however, these businesses are much more. They’re social hubs that provide platforms for connection, entrepreneurship, activism, and self-expression. In a world where simply embracing natural hair invites debate, it’s important to recognize the pivotal role barbershops and salons play in Black communities — and how they came to be these irreplaceable cultural sanctuaries.

Holding space in a changing country

The era of slavery is one of the darkest chapters in American history. For over two centuries, millions of Africans were taken from their homes, transported to the colonies that would become the United States, and bought and sold as property. Though it’s been over 150 years since the 13th Amendment was ratified, this period has had an indelible effect on the evolution of Black culture in the US, and its effects can still be observed today.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the meaningful role of Black grooming businesses can be traced back to this era. According to the National Library of Medicine, “In the antebellum South, barbering (i.e., hair-cutting and shaving) was a necessary skill for Black slaves serving as valets to White masters. In the free Northern states, owning a barbershop was one of the few businesses open to Black entrepreneurs because cutting hair was perceived as too menial an occupation for Whites.”

Although the end of slavery was a significant step forward for the United States, it wasn’t a silver bullet for Black Americans. In many areas, there were continuing limits on what they could do and where they could gather. When an influx of German and Italian immigrants “entered the profession in great numbers,” displacing the first generation of Black barbers — who, until that point, served a white clientele — the rise of the Black barbershop began.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, these shops became havens for Black men to socialize, play games, and discuss politics. In fact, barbers often drove voter registration movements and provided relevant reading material. That made these businesses particularly critical during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Meanwhile, trailblazers like Madame C.J. Walker created similar spaces for black women, who didn’t fully gain the right to vote until 1965.

“The hallmark of Black rebellion”

In the 1950s, a young man named Stokely Carmichael moved with his family from Trinidad to New York City. Growing up in the Bronx, the local Irish barbers couldn’t cut his hair, so he made regular treks to a Black barbershop in Harlem. There, “he gained a glimmer of awareness of the larger Black freedom struggle,” according to history professor and researcher Quincy Mills — particularly when he learned about the Brown v. Board of Education ruling of 1954, which “signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States.”

Carmichael went on to become a notable civil rights activist, joining organizations like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party. His story is inspiring, but it’s not unique; “The rise of Jim Crow laws limited spaces where Blacks could gather, and the barbershop filled this void, similar to Black churches but on a smaller scale,” according to the NIH. Already serving as community hubs where clients could learn about the political landscape, these shops became hotbeds of activism during the Civil Rights movement.

Up until this point, many Black Americans used damaging hair relaxers to appeal to the country’s Eurocentric beauty standards. During the 1950s and 60s, “The natural look became the hallmark of Black rebellion and served as a reminder to white America that its validation of Black hair no longer mattered.” The rise of natural hair made Black barbershops and salons even more important, as those sporting textured styles needed barbers and stylists who understood their unique hair needs.

While men like Carmichael and Martin Luther King Jr. fostered their budding senses of activism at barbershops, Black women searched for similar safe spaces and often found them in beauty salons. Marjorie Joyner, an early pioneer of Black haircare who got her start working for Madame Walker, went on to train thousands of stylists, helping these salons become more widespread. She also helped develop Illinois’ first cosmetology laws in yet another example of the historic connection between traditionally Black spaces and political activism.

Thanks to the tireless work of countless activists, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. Much like ratification of the 13th amendment, this was a big step forward for social justice in the US — but it wasn’t a miracle cure. Decades later, the struggle continues, and Black barbershops and salons still hold hallowed places in their communities. 

Modern hubs of Black culture

If history is doomed to repeat itself, 2020 must have been startlingly familiar to those involved in the Civil Rights fight decades earlier. The murder of George Floyd — just the latest in a spree of high-profile Black murders committed by white killers — sparked a new racial justice movement marked by “historic protests” reminiscent of the walkouts and marches of the 1960s.

Once again, wearing natural hair became a sign of protest. According to barbershop owner Malik Rodgers, “There definitely were more Black men coming in and saying they wanted to keep their hair long” in the two years following Floyd’s murder.

Rodgers’ cousin, rapper and activist Richard “Big Rich” Bougere, added, “Barbershops like this are the last authentic hubs of Black culture that you’ll find, really. As a young Black man, you can get exposed to views and opinions that will teach you more about your own identity, as well as the world around you. And you can see how the Black men around you present themselves to the public and how they take pride in themselves.”

Black salons, meanwhile, have become “sacred, comforting, and familiar” places. As Vogue’s Funmi Fetto wrote in the summer of 2020, “With the Pandora’s box of issues around race and racial injustice blown right open by the death of George Floyd (and add to that the uncertainty and horrors stemming from the pandemic) I was craving the sanctity of this safe space.” Fetto describes the modern salon experience as a place where “barriers are erased and Black women — friends, strangers, sisters — can share, bond, laugh and express themselves freely without restraint or explanation. And so this space is not only empowering, it is also incredibly therapeutic.”

A lot of things have changed over the last hundred years or so. These days, the Black haircare market is a multi-billion-dollar industry, not a niche specialty. Yet one thing remains the same: Black barbershops and salons continue to serve as cultural hubs where community members can be who they are, unapologetically.