Hair Is Political? | Webinar

‘Don’t touch my hair!’ is a defence that has been forged in response to the assaulting cabinets of curiosity mentality that the Global North harbours towards Africa, and the black bodies that call her home. In Africa and the Diaspora (both old and new) hair continues to catalyse heated debate around identity, assimilation and “wokeness”.

Through this online panel discussion moderated by Lebo Mashile, we seek to unpack this relationship between hair and hegemony. Secondly, by inviting panelists from outside of Africa to engage with this topic, we want to crack the discussion open, to explore how the politics of hair morph when they are shifted into a different geographical locale and are played out on bodies that are not Black and African.

Join us for what promises to be a riveting discussion around why hair is such a touchy subject.

Moderator: Lebo Mashile
Panellists: Luleka Mhlanzi, Christie Van Zyl, Dshamilja Roshani (Iran / Germany)