Tracee Ellis Ross Explores The Complex Culture Of Black Hair In 'The Hair Tales'

Can feel like it's just a conversation about hair, but it's not it never is. The truth is that this has been a dream of mine, um, the space of hair, the dialogue that that the entrance way that hair offers to a deeper and larger conversation around identity around self-love around self-care, around Beauty, black hair, is both stigmatized and celebrated. It'S our Crown right. This is a show that is about black women for everyone. I hope that black women and black people see themselves and are able to see themselves held in love and in celebration, and joy for black women. Hair is more than just personal. It'S about community and economy and identity. This is an opportunity for us to in a very intimate and intentional way and beautiful way explore that we really are beautiful, but it's like how much could we explore of ourselves if we didn't have to take so much time? Unlearning what we were taught as a child child - I didn't have negative memories around what happened with my hair, as I started to become a teenager as I started to move into the spaces where the world's idea of what my hair was supposed to look like and Appropriateness for hair, the historical stuff that plays into how you present yourself to the world, um really started to confuse me and then make me feel bad about my hair. There were a lot of years that were difficult. My hair was fried and dyed. I did everything from pulling out a clothing iron and trying to straighten my hair that way and then to come to find out during girlfriends like doing press. At times I was like, oh my God, there's so many people who are experiencing the same thing, mine felt stuck like mine, felt like just not cool hair, to have, and so to just know that the hair that was growing on my head was not socially acceptable. Was devastating and so hair Tales is an opportunity for us to create that space where we can see ourselves and others can have a relationship to the culture of our Humanity in a way that offers connection and not alienation.