From enslaved women concealing rice grains in their hair to Underground Railroad maps woven inside cornrows, Black hair has often been recognized in the multi-ethnic Black community as a symbol of defiance against systemic oppression.
A new Miami art exhibit, "Black Beauty as an Act of Resistance," is honoring the social and economic impact of Black-owned beauty shops and barbershops, which often served as safe spaces for community organizing, says curator Imani Warren.
"It was revolutionary because now you can afford your house. Now can you afford to send your children to college," Warren told WLRN. "Now you can afford to support your community. That is the act of resistance."
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The art exhibit pays tribute to trailblazing Black beauticians who owned businesses during racial segregation in South Florida. Those businesses were often used as an unexpected space to support civil rights movements and inform civic-minded residents about local and national policies.
One shining example: the Sunlight School of Beauty Culture founded by Jamaican immigrants David and Laurel Julius in Overtown. As the first cosmetology school for Black women in Miami-Dade County, it empowered the community from 1936 to 1970.
"Beauticians own their own space, lock, stock and barrel," Warren added.
"You are in there educating your community about their rights. So you're doing hair by day but revolutionary acts at night."
Laurel, former stylist for the legendary Black businesswoman Madam C.J. Walker, helped shape this influential beauty tradition with her husband, spreading it across states in the South and overseas in Jamaica.
"They had a school here in South Florida. They had one in Tampa. They had one in Alabama. They had one Georgia and they had one in Jamaica," Warren said. "And we're talking about women from all over the Caribbean, from Haiti, from Jamaica, from the Bahamas, who attend their school."
Warren, who co-produced WLRN's documentary Creole Pig: Haiti's Great Loss, is currently working on a film based on lesser-known Black hair stories.
In the meantime, the art exhibit is part of Warren's attempt to "build a timeline of Black- American beauty culturists and how the women expanded their business empires," from luminaries Annie Malone and Sarah Spencer Washington.
IF YOU GO
What: Black Beauty as an Act of Resistance
When: Through March 23, 2025
Where: The Marshall L. Davis African Heritage Cultural Arts Amadlozi Gallery in Miami.
Information: More details here
