OPINIONISTA: Clicks, TRESemmé and the politics of black women’s hair

The recent TRESemmé Clicks advert portraying black women’s natural hair as “dull” and “damaged” has brought to the fore the hair politics that black women battle with every day. Our hair is still policed in the workplace, schools and many other social spaces in which we find ourselves.

I am angry over the timing – the only time we have in the year to openly and comfortably celebrate Africanness has been tainted. I am angry that whiteness does not rest, not even in Heritage Month. The point is, we want to wear our hair the way we want, without fear of external factors such as workplaces and schools that will label us as unprofessional or messy for having natural hair. We also do not need the criticism that comes from black men who question our Africanness or genuineness when we wear wigs.On the one hand, revolutionary theorist Bantu Biko makes a problem of black women’s positionality in societal beauty standards.

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Board member tells TRESemmé and Clicks to name executives involved in damaging racist hair adClicks and Tresemmé – the two companies at the centre of a racism storm over black women’s hair should release the names of the senior executives who were involved in the publishing of the controversial advert – so says a non-executive director at Clicks.
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TRESemmé still mum on racist ad controversy after being dumped by ClicksOn Tuesday, Clicks announced it would be dumping TRESemmé with immediate effect and would work with local brands instead. The Unilever brand responded by saying they would NOT be answering questions from the media beyond what they had said on their website.
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LETTER: Fear of TRESemmé and Unilever may be behind Clicks advertThe record of the companies shows that they refuse to be corrected by employees
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