7 Times Black Women Politicians Made Powerful Hair Statements

Black hair is political, and it has always been so in the United States of America. The history of Black hair in this country is complex. Black women in politics represent the range of Black beauty on the national stage. This is something that was not always possible, thanks to racist restrictions.

It might seem like a small thing to some, but there’s nothing trivial about it. There have been formal laws on the books to control the way that Black women presented themselves in public spaces in the past.

Black Hair As Living History

Legislators passed Tigon laws in 1700s Louisiana “prohibited Creole women of color from displaying ‘excessive attention to dress’ in the streets of New Orleans,” according to the National Park Service. The “Black is Beautiful” movement celebrated the beauty of Black hair later in the 1960s and 1970s. People used Black hair imagery to loudly reject Eurocentric beauty standards. More recently in 2022 the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) ACT was signed into law. This legislation helps prevent hair-based workplace discrimination for nearly half the states in the country. 

Black women in politics choose how they show up in public spaces carefully. They know they are always subject to extreme scrutiny. Their access allows them to usher in a new standard of what it means to be Black, beautiful, and capable. Black women in politics use images of their curls, coils, braids, swoops, and coverings to make statements. They help tell the story of how far we have come in this nation with every appearance. 

Sometimes, they challenge respectability politics by expanding on what people are used to seeing. Other times they exude a lightness and grace that many do not think Black women are capable of due to ignorant prejudices.

See some of our favorite hair looks from Black women in politics below.