From Brandy to Beyoncé

Throughout its history, black hair has been not just a stylistic expression, but a facet and statement of identity holding deeper cultural and political meanings. Through style politics and communal practices, over time, African Americans have rearticulated some of these meanings of black hair: changing it from a target of oppression and inter- and intraracial discrimination to a symbol of empowerment and aesthetic freedom. Yet black hair has also been a locus around which a vibrant industry of both entrepreneurial and media importance developed, an industry that has represented economic strength for African Americans as well as the livelihoods of many black workers and communities. From Annie Malone’s Poro Company and Madam C.J. Walker in the early twentieth century to Johnson Products and Soft Sheen Products in the latter half—indeed, up until the mid-1970s—the black haircare industry remained firmly dominated by a handful of black-owned haircare companies. Though white-owned companies had targeted the ethnic beauty market since the early twentieth century, starting in the 1970s, this historically black domain faced increased, intense market competition from mainstream corporations such as L’Oréal, Revlon, and Alberto Culver. The next couple of decades saw black haircare become swiftly and progressively corporatized as these giants initiated buyouts of the black-owned mainstays of the industry. During this period, the growth of the industry reached an unprecedented pace; from 1975 to 2006, black haircare revenues mushroomed from $332 million to over $1 billion. ¹ As the black haircare industry continued to grow, so too did the ancillary industries surrounding it, in particular, the media, represented primarily through black hair magazines and black celebrity culture. ² This chapter examines these multifaceted aspects of the black haircare industry in this post-buyout period, beginning in the mid-1990s and continuing to the present day.