Before African Americans were into pressing their hair and relaxing their hair, they just wore it natural. For many African Americans wearing their hair natural meant that it would be worn in an afro. An afro is a hairstyle in which the hair is shaped into a wide frizzy bush.
Before the slave trade, African Americans wore their hairs in many different styles and ways. Some were twist, locks, and braids. after African Americans were brought to America and separated from each other they started wearing their hair in natural afros. After afros were introduced, you can see all different types of afros on African Americans from many years ago and even still today.
People may be able to connect people wearing afros to the Black Panther Party because that is the hairstyle that many of them wore. the Black Panthers wore their hair in afros as a political statement, and to show that they loved being black and they have pride in their race. The afro is also said to be a way for Blacks to reject European customs back in the 60s. In the 1960s, afros were worn by the youth, activist, and others. In the 1970s, even performers started wearing afros. For example, the Jackson 5. When the afro was introduced it became very popular within the Black communities all over the United States.
In high school I had a friend who let his hair grow for 4 years to get an afro, and it was only half the size from the picture in the post. He told me he couldn't just shampoo his hair when he just took a shower, so he wore a shower cap. He need someone else help to wash his hair, his mother, to me it seemed as if it was way too much work. When he finally got it cut he said he missed it but it was just to tire some. It seems a bit restrictive to have an afro that big and very tedious to maintain.
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