A Malagasy female hairdresser dressing the hair of a woman, by Wellcome Library, London, licensed under CC BY 4.0 — modified from original.
We believe that:
Healthy hair is good hair
Policing black women’s hair is a no-go
Learning to unlearn is a life-long process
Hair’s more fun when brands tell the truth
“Just about everything about a person’s identity could be learned by looking at their hair.”
- Lori Tharps on Hair Story
Historically, hair has always been a special part of Black women’s identity. Zimbabwe, which holds a special place in the Ruka team, is one of the southern regions where ‘Bantu knots’ originated. Like many hairstyles passed down across generations, it represents a source of pride, power and a visual representation of the creativity of Black women.
What surprises a lot of people when they look further into our history is that extensions and hair accessories have always been another way to express the beauty of our hair. From beads and coins, to wool, if you explore African styles you see the sense of unity, love and deep culture that surrounded our hair.
Supermodel Periana from Guadalupe wearing a Paco Rabanne net top, by Friedrich Magnussen,licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 DE— modified from original.
The joy of our hair was almost stolen from us.
During slavery, beyond our livelihood, family and safety, Black people were stripped of our culture. Recognising the strength it carried, this is where the policing of our hair began. We were forced to abandon the specialised tools we’d developed to protect our gentle tresses, setting back the innovation of Black hair by 100’s of years.