A history of black hair

500 B.C.: Nigerian statues and hieroglyphics from this period are found depicting cornrows and braids.
1400s: West African societies using hairstyles to signify status, wealth, religion, age and societal status.
1600s: The hair of Africans sold into slavery is shorn. Field slaves shave, braid or use rags to cover hair and domestic servants sometimes imitate styles of white owners using butter, axle and bacon grease to smooth the hair, and a heated knife or lye to straighten the hair.
1905: Madam C.J. Walker introduces hair softening products and later, hair straightening methods.
1954: George E. Johnson introduces a safe, "permanent" home straightening system.
1960s: Black civil rights activists sport Afro hairstyles as a form of political protest, and a movement of wearing hair in natural styles begins.
1980s: The Jheri Curl becomes popular.
1990s: Essence Magazine launches a movement to reclaim African culture, resulting in a growing demand for braiding

The Condition of  Black Hair Represented the Buddhist Concept of Shiki Shin Funi or "Oneness of Mind & Body"

The Great Jazz piano play "Duke Ellington" and men of his day in the 1940's and 50's expressed the the cultural mindset of men of his day who chose to "Conk" their hair.  Whatever the thought of the mind reflects into the body.  We in Buddhism call this concept shikishin-funi.

." In the Japanese term shikishin-funi, shiki means that which has form and color, or physical existence, while shin means that which has neither form nor color, or spiritual existence, such as the mind, heart, and soul. Funi is an abbreviation of nini-funi, which indicates "two (in phenomena) but not two (in essence)." This means that the material and the spiritual are two separate classes of phenomena, but non-dual and indivisible in essence, because they are both aspects of the same reality.

The true Founder of Rock & Roll Little Richard sported what we call a "Conked" hair style as well many Black men of his day in the 1940's & 50's.  It idea of straight or "Good Hair" was the culture of his time.
There was nothing like the melow voice of the fantastic Nat King Cole who was a Black man who even had his own television show and loved by White America.
Look at Rock and Roll Guitar Player Chuck Berry and the Conk hair style he wore.
James Brown who we covered early on came from the era of Black men Conking their hair.  This practice of Conking one's hair was the way of being accepted by America.
The Great Boxing champion  Sugar "Ray" Robinson use to have his corner men to comb his hair inbetween Rounds.
Sidney Poitier on the left and Harry Belanfonte were Black men who never discaded their Natural hair styles but they were loved by Whites and Blacks.  We call this Karma and these men have alwas been the persona of Black Pride.
Many in America remember the Iconic picture of the Jackson five in the 1970's sporting the large Afro hair styles.

One of the greatest icons of the 1970's that represented Black Pride was the large Afro of Angela Davis.

All of America knows the Iconic Afro-hair style of Muti-Millionare Boxing promoter Don King.  Don King is noted for saying "Only in America" that a poor man born with nothing can one day become a successful millionare.  Don king Challenged America and defiled the idea of not cutting his African coarse hair.
The epitome of Black Pride and culture was Heavyweight Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali who stood up for Black Pride and he had the mind of being proud of himself and his hair.
The Phenomena of "Good Hair" became a "LIVING ENTITY" or "True Aspect of Phenomena"  we will show using Buddhist Teachings how the Phenomena made it appearance on Planet Earth.

The conk was a hairstyle popular among African-American men from the 1920s to the 1960s. This hairstyle called for a man with naturally "kinky" hair to have it chemically straightened using a relaxer (sometimes pure lye), so that the newly straightened hair could be styled in specific ways. Conks were often styled as large pompadours although other men chose to simply slick their straightened hair back, allowing it to lie flat on their heads. Regardless of the styling, conks required a considerable amount of effort to maintain: a man often had to wear a do-rag of some sort at home, to prevent sweat or other agents from causing his hair to revert to its natural state prematurely. Also, the style required repeated application of relaxers; as new hair grew in, it too had to be chemically straightened. Like in the book, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, Byron had a conk. Many of the popular musicians of the early to mid 20th century, including Chuck Berry, Louis Jordan, Little Richard, James Brown, and the members of The Temptations and The Miracles, were well known for sporting the conk hairstyle. The gatefold of the 1968 album Electric Mud shows blues legend Muddy Waters having his hair conked. The style fell out of popularity when the Black Power movement of the 1960s took hold, and the Afro became a popular symbol of African pride.

The conk is all but extinct as a hairstyle among African-American men today, although more mildly relaxed hairstyles such as the Jheri curl and the S-curl were popular during the 1980s and 1990s.

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