Promoting Love for Black Hair Through Art

Arial Robinson’s book “Black Hair Care in Color” surrounded by known hair products in the Black community (Source: www.arialrobinson.com)

As Black History Month comes to a close, it is important to continue appreciating what makes the Black experience what it is. Combs, broken brushes, durags and edge control are all words that the Black community associates with our hair. Because we live in a predominately white world, our hair gets policed and criticized as “unprofessional.” Noticing this, a student took it upon herself to show how diverse and amazing Black hair really is.

Arial Robinson, a junior multimedia journalism student from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, created a photobook called “Black Hair Care in Color.” The book is filled with her drawings of staple hair products from Black culture. After her first book’s success, “The Modern Day Black Alphabet”, she wanted to explore Black hair care through the medium of drawing. 

“I wanted to really get to the foundation of it and explore this complex topic in a very minimal way,” Robinson explained. 

Robinson took this chance to do a different art medium for this book and experiment in how she could convey these tools through coloring. Over the past six months, she took the time to pick out the products she had the most experience with, research artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, and did a lot of redrawing and printing for it to come out the way she wanted. 

“With drawing, you can really add in your own color--your own flavor,” Robinson said. “Because the book is about colors, I wanted to leave that room for other people to really take it and run with it and have their own interpretations and conversations around the book.”

She has actually been experimenting with a variety of creative art media since childhood. While in art school, she discovered she loved making music and eventually picked up others like photography and drawing. After realizing she was good at these things, she decided to create art for a purpose, even if that was for a bigger audience or just for herself. Although she’s comfortable in her creativity and expression now, it was not always like that. 

Growing up in predominantly white schools, she found herself desiring to be accepted by societal standards. Other Black girls, herself included, would straighten their hair because they noticed that people treated them differently. 

“It’s hard to walk in your truth and walk in who you are but it’s very rewarding when you finally have appreciation for yourself,” Robinson said. 

When she got to college, she started to have a deep appreciation for the versatility of Black hair. Getting on social media apps like Twitter showed her that many people shared the same experiences as her growing up in relation how they dealt with their hair. Black hair is very policed in this society but Robinson had to realize that we have control over our hair, not anyone else.

“If we decide we don’t want to deal with it today, we don’t have to. Some days we want to embrace our natural kinks and curls and we can do that too. Both are acceptable,” Robinson said. 

Her own personal journey inspired her to make sure younger kids knew the background of how special Black hair is. 

“I think it’s really important that we start at young ages to let them know that you are real, your experiences are real and they’re valid, and that you should never feel like some little being.”

Robinson also wanted to make sure that other cultures can learn about the Black experience while controlling that narrative as a Black person. The book would be an easy way to digest information on their own terms. She also hopes that releasing books like these would start more conversations surrounding Black hair and other issues like texturism, featurism, and colorism.

“I want more people to be willing to listen than to talk,” she said. “If we were to just sit down and take a moment to listen to what other people have to say, then we’ll be able to receive it.”

When asked about what advice she would give to young students who want to be creators like herself, Robinson emphasized to create what you want, even if it is not received by other people at first. Rather than creating for others, you should create for yourself. 

“Keep doing your thing, use what you have, and believe in yourself.”

“Black Hair Care in Color” will be available on major realtor stores’ websites on March 1st as well as on her website (www.arialrobinson.com).