Secure the Lace

Building on Chapter 5 and Black women educators’ exploration of hair and its impact, this chapter further deepens the connection between hair and education. It makes connections between the historical contributions of Black women educators and the various ways Black women have done hair for centuries. The parallels that tie both together are explored through the following questions: What are some of the parallels between integration and straight hair for Black women? How does the Natural Hair Movement teach us about ourselves in the way Black women educators did during segregation? How do the unprotected protective styles of today parallel the protective teaching and learning Black women did in native schools? To think through these questions, I expand on where hair and education meet through the MWHC community and did my excavation of Black women’s work in native, segregated, and integrated spaces.