IF THIS SHOP COULD TALK: A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE LIBERATORY FUNCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN BEAUTY SALONS AND CULTURE A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AFRICOLOGY & AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES Shané Weaver by Shané Quantisa Weaver August 2021 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Advisory Chair, Africology and African American Studies Dr. Kimani Nehusi, Africology and African American Studies Dr. C. Amari Johnson, Africology and African American Studies Dr. Monifa Love Asante, External Member, Bowie State University © Copyright 2021 by Shané Q. Weaver All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT “If This Shop Could Talk: A Discursive Analysis of The Liberatory Function and Development of African American Beauty Salons and Culture” explores the intersection of political consciousness, aesthetics, and community development engendered in quintessential and atypical locales of African American beauty culture with an emphasis on the African American beauty salon as a discursive space. As it seeks to expand limited understandings of African American beauty culture, this analysis employs Afrocentric, Black Feminist, and Womanist theoretical perspectives as it traverses temporal and geographic boundaries. As proclamations of Black pride and beauty are juxtaposed in present day society against a multitude of headlines that detail stories of discrimination based upon hair, this work addresses matters of how and why Africana women assert such prideful proclamations amidst injustice. How do African American women know that there is power in beauty? Why do African American women believe such a thing? Why do African American women engage in beauty culture and beauty salons? This work focuses on 20th through 21st century America, by exploring Black beauty culture concepts and byproducts including trends, styles, community activism, and consciousness as connected to African history in Kemet, African history in West Africa prior to the Transatlantic slave trade, and African history in America between the 16th and 21st centuries. This work employs discourse analysis and Afronography to reveal and assert the existence of a unique epistemology within Africana women’s beauty culture that has been employed in the subversion of oppression and the assertion of Black female identity in America. An Afronographic research study accompanies this analysis and iii represents qualitative findings from interviews conducted with women who identify as persons of African descent and members of intergenerational family beauty practice, where women in their families preceded them in beauty service provision. The researcher’s perspective is also included throughout the work as she is a licensed cosmetologist and member of an intergenerational family of beauty practice. Ultimately, this work suggests that there is a unique, significant, and sacred agency that exists in the phenomena, traditions, history, and locations of African American beauty culture which has generated aesthetic creations in hair, skin and nails that rhetorically shift paradigms, in addition to words, actions, and feelings that foster an epistemology that can aid in the liberation of Africans in the United States and abroad. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank The Ancestors for providing me with strength and guidance during this journey of mind, spirit, and community. To my mother, siblings, grandmother, and stepfather your love was the steam that allowed me to face challenges and opportunities in this journey with optimism. My dear friends, thank you for the limited conversations, although they were short and infrequent, they helped to keep me centered. To my Temple University Africology family, thank you for your support, open minds, enthusiasm, and grounding; I truly feel that I am amongst family when in your presence. Dr. Asante, Dr. Love, Dr. Nehusi, and Dr. Johnson, I appreciate you all beyond the scope of words, thank you for believing in the ideas and passions of this Black girl; your examples as pillars of education and culture allowed me to believe that I could accomplish this feat while presenting my truth in perspective, research, and experience. To all of the Black girls and women across the globe who think that your unique style, thoughts, perspective, and ideas are misunderstood, may you find this work as a base for you to assert yourself to the world; the work I do is for you, you are beautiful and powerful beyond measure. May this only be the beginning of efforts to expand the scope of understanding and autonomy of African descended women from a perspective that centers our perspectives. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ VIII CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................... 1 Need and Timeliness ...................................................................................... 5 Delimitation .................................................................................................... 8 Methodology ................................................................................................ 10 Theoretical Basis .......................................................................................... 18 Methods ........................................................................................................ 19 Terminology/Vocabulary ............................................................................. 25 Review of Literature ..................................................................................... 27 Breakdown of Chapters ................................................................................ 31 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 34 2. SPLITTING HAIRS: A CONTEXTUALIZATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HAIR AND SALONS IN THE UNITED STATES AT PRESENT (2020-2021 AND THE PANDEMIC) ............................................ 35 3. SPEAKING IT INTO EXISTENCE: AFRICAN ORIGINS OF BEAUTY, DISCOURSE, AND SACREDNESS AS HISTORICAL CONTEXT (KEMET 2000-15TH CENTURY WEST AFRICA) ......................................................... 49 4. TANGLED: DISCOURSE PRACTICES AND THE ORIGIN OF BEAUTY/ HAIR PRACTICES AND PLACE AS A TOOL OF RESISTANCE DURING ENSLAVEMENT (1520s-1865) ...................................................................... 77 5. BLESS THE WOMAN THAT’S GOT HER OWN: BRICK AND MORTAR AS GOD AND HAIR GROWERS DOMINATE THE CONVERSATION (1865 INCLUDED HERE BUT THE FOCUS IS ON 1919-1950) ................. 91 6. I’LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT: THE SALON TRANSFORMATION TO A HUB FOR SOLIDARITY AND REFUGE AND INDIVIDUALITY (1960-1980s) ................................................................... 102 7. IT’S ABOUT MAINTENANCE: A STEADY FLOW IN INDUSTRY, SALON ATTENDANCE, AND STYLE CATEGORIES (1990-2000) ........ 114 8. HAIR, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE: TAKING THE CONVERSATION TO DIFFERENT/ NEW PLACES AND THE SALON AS A REPOSITORY FOR AUTONOMY AND INDIVIDUALITY (2000-2021) .......................... 126 vi 9. THE BIGGER THE HAIR, THE HARDER THEY’LL STARE: QUALITATIVE STUDY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE EMPOWERMENT OF THE SALON .......................... 137 Interview Questions .................................................................................... 138 Narrative Presentation of Qualitative Findings .......................................... 144 REFERENCES CITED ....................................................................................... 152 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Figure 1: Demographic ........................................................................................ 140 2. Figure 2: Coding ................................................................................................. 141 viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION A fundamental question that all Black women, irrespective of skin tone, hair type and socio-economic class have asked themselves at one point in time is: what am I going to do with my hair? Black hair, in all its manifestations, must always be contemplated. ––Cheryl Thompson, “Black Women, Beauty, and Hair as a Matter of Being” Statement of the Problem African women’s hair has become a vogueish topic in media across the globe. From the continent of Africa to television screens in Europe, news outlets in the Caribbean, halls of litigation in the United States, and the boundless annals of social media, discussions of African women’s hair persist. In 2019 New York, California, and New Jersey deemed natural hair discrimination illegal and in 2020, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, and Maryland joined that group of states. Hair discussion topics include styles, rights, economics, health, and more, however, the origin of such important discourse is ignored. The source of such substantial discussion pertaining to African women’s identity and hair is beauty culture and more specifically, the beauty salon. Initiatives to interpret and express African American women’s