With roots stretching back 5,000 years, the cornrow hairstyle is a living cornerstone of African history and culture still visible on stages and streets all over the world.
From Alicia Keys to David Beckham, icons of all races embrace cornrows, yet it is difficult to find a hairstyle sparking such celebration and controversy alike.
Here, we celebrate the fascinating chronicles of cornrows.
Born in Africa
Primarily known for their use of ochre body pigment, Namibia’s Himba tribe holds the honour of the creation of the first African cornrows.
Complex patterns reflected a person’s age, religion, and even fertility, and eye-catching braids are also seen on the heads of the neighbouring Mbalantu tribe, symbolising the start of womanhood.
Braiding was a social event because of the hours spent doing them, and even today tribal elders take their time to braid children’s hair in a community environment.
In turn, the children absorb techniques handed down by their ancestors, passing on their unique culture and traditions to future generations.
Cross-cultural phenomenon
Cornrows are particular to the peoples of Africa, but there is evidence of strikingly similar styles on other continents.
In 14th Century Northern Europe, married women usually always had their hair up in braids, revealing their untied hair just to their husband. Only the poor, or prostitutes, left their hair down and unbraided.
Braids also existed during the pre-colonisation Americas, and today are still central to indigenous American women’s creative self-expression at socials such as powwows.
As in Africa, they began as a marker of identification across peoples and tribes, but transformed into a visible form of resistance against the decaying shackles of European colonisation.
Cornrows – what’s in their name?
The African cornrow’s name originates in the vernacular surrounding African slavery both in the Caribbean and the United States.
The 19th Century birthed the term ‘cornrows’ as African and Black American slaves laboured in the cornfields of North America as well as for other trade staples, such as cotton.
Meanwhile, in Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, they became known as ‘canerows’ because they resembled the stalk of the sugarcane crop that slaves also toiled to harvest.
Fun and fashionable, but also a survival method
Taking from several minutes to several days to craft, each set of cornrows is the handiwork of an artist. The only limit is the braider’s creativity.
You can weave stars, swirls and tribal designs on to the scalp, and add decorations such as shells, cuffs and beads to accentuate the look.
And you can make straight-back braids, mohawks, buns and updo’s look messier and more ‘chic’ than previously favoured ‘tight, perfect’ styles according to celebrity stylist Nunzio Saviano.
African cornrows and hair braids are both symbolic and social, but they also speak a language of survival.
They were used as a way to break out to freedom. Cornrow patterns on African slaves on plantations in Colombia were actually designed to be escape route ‘maps.’
And people also laced rice, seeds and even gold into braids for sustenance in case of being kidnapped into slavery, or when travelling between plantations. Today, this gives wearers lasting pride in their ancestors’ resourcefulness.
Controversy and ‘Columbusing’
Cultural appropriation of African cornrows often sparks fierce debate, and rightly so.
From Bo Derek in 10 to Kim Kardashian on Instagram, white people have ‘Columbused’ hairstyles of African origin that their creators were actively discriminated against for centuries for wearing.
Columbusing refers to ‘discovering’ elements of historically oppressed cultures and co-opting them as though one encountered it themselves, much like the Italian coloniser claimed he did of the New World.
The issue comes from wearing African cornrows without appreciation for their context or creators who withstood grave discrimination for their race and culture, as their descendants still do today.
Cornrows on Black people, among other hairstyles like dreadlocks, are still labelled as looking “unprofessional” in grooming policies, and yet white people wear them without experiencing such problems.
Celebrating African cornrows as high fashion can be positive but their history needs to be acknowledged, and white celebrities often fail in this trying to look ‘urban’, despite good intentions.
African pride from Washington D.C. to Wakanda
The empowering nature of African cornrows re-emerged during the US civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and hair became a tool utilised in the face of brazen racism.
Slowly, attitudes began to change towards the political and cultural significance of all styles of Black hair, and cornrows started appearing on TV and in Oscar-nominated films.
Actress Cicely Tyson showcased her intricate cornrows in acclaimed 1972 drama Sounder, publicly paving the way for African-Americans towards self-acceptance and self-love.
Today, ultramodern variations on African cornrows can be seen on the head of Black Panther’s princess Shuri, showing that African pride transcends past persecution.
The fictional kingdom of Wakanda is a beacon of Afro-futuristic culture, style and power, and proves that sci-fi Hollywood superheroes can confidently wear cornrows too.
No conclusion in sight for cornrows
Cornrows stand the test of time over the centuries, and cause both adoration and debate in equal measure today.
They celebrate resilience, beauty and survival, and are assured a place in the future as Africans and their descendants continue to proudly wear cornrows amid deep-seated discrimination and cultural appropriation.
Do you wear your cornrows with pride? We’d love to hear from you!
Sources:
https://www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/history-of-cornrows
https://www.byrdie.com/history-of-braids
http://www.curlynikki.com/2018/06/the-mbalantu-women-of-namibia-know.html
https://thetempest.co/2019/08/15/style/history-of-braids/
https://www.afrizar.com/blog-detail/african-braids-a-social-art
http://www.historynaked.com/surviving-life-past-hair-care-medieval-woman/
https://www.ebony.com/style/everything-you-need-know-about-cornrows/
https://www.essence.com/hair/african-braiding-technique-rice-hunger-slavery/
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/cornrows-cultural-appropriation
https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=betr
https://www.essence.com/hair/respect-our-roots-brief-history-our-braids-cultural-appropriation/
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/black-panther-beauty-looks-express-african-pride-afrofuturism
