Don't Touch My Hair

By: Emma Dabiri

Narrated by: Emma Dabiri

Straightened. Stigmatised. 'Tamed'. Celebrated. Erased. Managed. Appropriated. Forever misunderstood. Black hair is never 'just hair'.

This book is about why black hair matters and how it can be viewed as a blueprint for decolonisation. Emma Dabiri takes us from pre-colonial Africa, through the Harlem Renaissance, Black Power and on to today's Natural Hair Movement, the Cultural Appropriation Wars and beyond. We look at everything from hair capitalists like Madam C.J. Walker in the early 1900s to the rise of Shea Moisture today, from women's solidarity and friendship to 'black people time', forgotten African scholars and the dubious provenance of Kim Kardashian's braids.

The scope of black hairstyling ranges from pop culture to cosmology, from prehistoric times to the (afro)futuristic. Uncovering sophisticated indigenous mathematical systems in black hairstyles, alongside styles that served as secret intelligence networks leading enslaved Africans to freedom, Don't Touch My Hair proves that far from being only hair, black hairstyling culture can be understood as an allegory for black oppression and, ultimately, liberation.

Critic reviews

Emma Dabiri's groundbreaking Don't Touch My Hair is a scintillating, intellectual investigation into black women and the very serious business of our hair, as it pertains to race, gender, social codes, tradition, culture, cosmology, maths, politics, philosophy and history, and also the role of hairstyles in pre-colonial Africa (Bernardine Evaristo)

FASCINATING, educational, personal, humble and engaging. I urge you to read it! (Marian Keyes)

I've been pleasantly engrossed this autumn in Emma Dabiri's nonfiction debut Don't Touch My Hair. Part memoir, part spiky, thoroughly researched socio-political analysis, it delves deep into the painful realities and history of follicular racism (Diana Evans)

Both a richly researched cultural history and a voyage to empowerment. (Colin Grant)

A triumph! Refeshingly accessible, enlightening and thorough ... an impeccably researched journey into our Black Hair and the ideas and feelings that have surrounded it, to this day. (Yrsa Daley-Ward)

Sensational

Pulled together with meticulous research, Don't Touch My Hair is an unmissable read by a writer who's set to become a household name (Francesca Brown)

The first book from one of Ireland's brightest literary talents, Don't Touch My Hair brilliantly deconstructs western views of everything from beauty to social value systems, and even to our understanding of time, all through the lens of how African cultures value hair.

Groundbreaking...Her sources are rich, diverse and sometimes heartbreaking. Some books make us feel seen and for me, that is what Don't Touch My Hair does. I would urge everyone to read it (Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff)

An excellent and far reaching book...a call to arms for black African culture

Very enlightening read!

Loved it! Emma Dabiri's research was extensive, thorough, eye opening and touching. God bless Emma Dabiri for speaking the truth!

More than just the title! A must read!!

I am in awe of Ms. Dabiri's writing style that uses our African Hair as a back-drop to showcase our rich history and culture through prodigy, mathematical genius, architecture kidnapping, the stripping of any humanness to Black Lives Matter. All while touching nearly every continent. i will reread this book again and again. Well done!. x

An insight into the complexity of African identity

First, Emma Dabiri's voice is soothing. Next, the book gives an insight into the complexity of African identities as evident through Black hair. The book provides a historical, sociocultural and theoretical framework of hair making among Africans and people of African descent, focusing on how certain practices have evolved and how EuroAmerican connections stifled the authenticity of Africans. Nonetheless, Africans remained resolute AND despite the attitude of conveniently dismissing the background of most of the world's popular culture, the enduring nature of African creativity is indisputable.

Love!

Emma
You embody all of us. Your research and writing through history was nothing short of enjoyable. Thanks for the education!
We want more.
Ndidi