Victoria Kinyanjui
The icon I chose was a hair pick. In the African American community, the hair pick is an easily recognizable item with a significant history. Both of the responses that I got were from people outside of the community and it was interesting to read what they thought about it. The point I found really interesting is that both people didn't give the hair pick much importance as neither of them were African American. My piece is a contemporary take on the piece Blue Monday by Annie Lee. The original piece is about the exhaustion and trauma of work along with the exhaustion and trauma that comes with existing as an African American woman. My take on the piece speaks on both the extensive effort put into our appearances as well as living life in the face of adversity.
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Art History Student Responses to Victoria Kinyanjui:
By Ivan Cortez:
I believe the hair/afro pick is a positive symbol of the ethnic representation and pride in African American culture. I believe that at a certain point in time, the hair/afro pick could have been used as a symbol of freedom as it represented people being proud of their African American culture. I found an article called, "Black Is Profitable: The Commodification of the Afro, 1960—1975.” by Susannah Walker. In the article, Walker states that the afro hair style peaked in the United States during the 1960s and was worn mainly by Black people. The article’s main focus is on women wearing afros as an impact of politics, race, and gender, as it is a disapproval of the white beauty standards.
WALKER,SUSANNAH.“BlackIsProfitable:TheCommodificationoftheAfro,1960—1975.”Enterprise&Society1,no.3(2000):536–64.http://www.jstor.org/stable/23699596
By James Sparks:
My initial reaction to the icon was, what is so iconic about a pic comb.? But as I started thinking about it growing up in the late sixties and seventies, the pic comb was well known during that time afros were in along with disco. Another thing the pic comb could be is a symbol of Black power. At the time, the black panther party was iconic, and these combs were an everyday utensil for the African American culture. In the “Love Your Black hair story,” the writer describes how painful it was having her mother comb out her afro.
Busby, Aretha M. “Love Your Black Hair Story.”Essence44, no. 7 (2013): 55–