'Hair Freedom' Mini-Doc Explores The Natural Hair Movement In The UK

'Hair Freedom,' a documentary short by English filmmaker Zindzi Rocque Drayton for BBC Raw, explores the natural hair movement in the UK.

'Hair Freedom' Mini-Doc Explores The Natural Hair Movement In The UK

Maasai people. Men spend hours braiding each othersí long ochred colored hair. Near Amboseli National Park, Kenya
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Hair Freedom is a mini-documentary from YouTube content creator Zindzi Rocque Draytonaddressing the highs and lows experienced by black women in London who have chosen to wear their hair in its natural state. Developed for the BBC Raw collective, the doc features street interviews with a group of young women who share insightful commentary on 'unnatural hair,' breaking free from Eurocentric beauty ideals and their own personal journeys towards embracing black beauty.

"Natural hair is defined as Afro textured hair that isn't chemically straightened," Rocque Drayton writes on the video's YouTube page. "In our society and throughout the world, straight hair is so normalised that a large number of black women chemically straighten their Afro texture. Touching on topics from rocking an Afro in the workplace to the legacy of slavery, I find out the pressures and joys of women who have embraced their 'natural hair'." Watch Hair-Freedom below.

Maasai people. Men spend hours braiding each othersí long ochred colored hair. Near Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Fashion + Beauty

A Regional Walk Through The History of African Hair Braiding

From West African Fulani braids to Southern Africa’s Bantu Knots, we explore Africa’s rich history and connection to hair braiding.

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