For my second intervention project, I wanted to expand upon my first project about the civil rights movement and the natural hair movement. I want about it from a slightly different angle by interviewing three different black women about their experience with their natural hair and how they deal with the publicity. It was interesting to speak with these women and get to understand them. As I was editing the interviews, it became clear that although all three women had different experiences, they were also pulled together with the same narrative of racism, discrimination, and sacrifice. This is something I know a lot of POC can relate to.
This project reminded me of This is What I Know about Art by Kimberly Drew. At the end of the book she states, "My story is also about generosity. It's about the things that artists and friends teach us and how we employ them in our own lives." (Drew 60). Doing these interviews was incredibly insightful for me and my activism. Hearing the various different perspectives that these women had with their natural hair opened my eyes to the different experiences black women face. It even made me think about my own experiences.
I think that it is important to talk about a topic like this even though history is currently being made. As I stated in my video, the Crown Act was passed in 2019, however, that does not mean that the work is done. These things still need to be talked about and experiences need to be heard and exhibited. The Art of Activism by Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert states, "In the United States we use the words "demonstrate" and "protest" synonymously. It's a meaningful slippage, and one we don't think about enough. When we protest we are also demonstrating to the world who we are, what we believe in, and how we'd like the world to be" (Duncombe and Lambert 90). This quote reminds me why I decided to do interviews and help share and demonstrate the natural hair movement to my classmates from the perspective of black women. The Crown Act was passed to mainly black women and helped them feel more safe embracing their natural selves.
Works Cited
Drew, Kimberly. This Is What I Know about Art. Penguin Workshop, 2020.
Duncombe, Stephen, and Steve Lambert. The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide to Making The Impossible Possible. O/R, 2021.
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