Recalling the Black Hair Care HELL of Holy Weeks and Easters Past

In honor of Easters past, I’ve composed a little secular Easter carol in homage to every little Black girl (like me!) who had to endure the yearly ritual of getting your naturally kinky hair straightened with the hot comb for Easter Sunday. 

Every year it was the same. Your mom knocked herself out getting you dressed up so you could look all shiny and new at Easter Sunday church service – and so the relatives wouldn’t talk about you or her! That meant getting a pretty new dress, shiny new shoes, and straight, slicked back hair.

The Obamas looking effortlessly stylish as usual. Don’t be fooled though! It can take a lot of hard labor to get Black women’s hair perfectly pressed and laid.

The process was no joke. It could take HOURS of washing, drying, and then sitting in a chair to get your natural hair straightened. You had to sit ABSOLUTELY STILL if you wanted to avoid the hot comb burning your scalp, neck, or ears. Meanwhile, your relatives would be sitting around gawking at you through this whole kitchen hair salon process as if you were a sideshow attraction. And God help you if you were tenderheaded!!! (Okay, even I wasn’t quite THAT bad…I think. Anyway, tenderheadedness is treated much more scientifically nowadays, thanks to improved hair care products for natural or straightened Black hair.)

And there was no escape. Back then the thought of leaving your hair natural for Easter was tantamount to standing in the aisle of your grandmother’s Baptist church and claiming you didn’t believe in Jesus. Folks wouldn’t just flip out. They’d start gathering kindling for the witch burning. Yes, it’s fair to say that basically, the pain of having your scalp burned and your hair yanked, processed or singed straight amounted to a station of the cross of Black womanhood. * starts clapping and singing * Now let us all, all go back, to the old, Old Landmark…

…Um, where was I? Oh yes…

It’s not quite the same, but, if you want to get some sense of the process from the old days, check out this little video of a 1940s English hairdresser chemically straightening a light-skinned African woman’s hair. The hair is hot combed at the end.