• STYLES
    • ALL STYLES
    • NATURAL
    • WEAVES & WIGS
    • STRAIGHT
    • BRAIDS
    • CORNROWS
    • LOCS
    • PROTECTIVE STYLES
    • SHORT STYLES
    • TUTORIALS
  • CARE
    • ALL CARE
    • HAIR 101
    • ASK AN EXPERT
    • NATURAL
    • WEAVES & WIGS
    • STRAIGHT
    • BRAIDS
    • LOCS
    • TRANSITIONING
  • PRODUCTS
    • SHOP
    • LEARN
  • FEATURES
    • HAIR STORY
    • ON THE STREET
    • WORKING GIRL
    • CONVERSATIONS
    • LIFE
    • CULTURE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • \\ VIEW ALL
  • TV
    • BLACK HAIR IS…
    • DIY vs DFY
    • #HAIRTIES
    • Mom Cuts
    • PRETTY
    • PRETTY SHOULDN’T HURT
    • YOU CAN TOUCH MY HAIR
    • ON THE SCENE
    • \\ VIEW ALL
  • BOUTIQUE
    • CONDITIONERS
    • STYLING
    • SHAMPOO
    • TREATMENTS
    • \\ VIEW ALL

 | Discover Yeluchi

  • STYLES
    • ALL STYLES
    • NATURAL
    • WEAVES & WIGS
    • STRAIGHT
    • BRAIDS
    • CORNROWS
    • LOCS
    • PROTECTIVE STYLES
    • SHORT STYLES
    • TUTORIALS
  • CARE
    • ALL CARE
    • HAIR 101
    • ASK AN EXPERT
    • NATURAL
    • WEAVES & WIGS
    • STRAIGHT
    • BRAIDS
    • LOCS
    • TRANSITIONING
  • PRODUCTS
    • SHOP
    • LEARN
  • FEATURES
    • HAIR STORY
    • ON THE STREET
    • WORKING GIRL
    • CONVERSATIONS
    • LIFE
    • CULTURE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • \\ VIEW ALL
  • TV
    • BLACK HAIR IS…
    • DIY vs DFY
    • #HAIRTIES
    • Mom Cuts
    • PRETTY
    • PRETTY SHOULDN’T HURT
    • YOU CAN TOUCH MY HAIR
    • ON THE SCENE
    • \\ VIEW ALL
  • BOUTIQUE
    • CONDITIONERS
    • STYLING
    • SHAMPOO
    • TREATMENTS
    • \\ VIEW ALL
Un-ruly
  • STYLES
    • ALL STYLES
    • NATURAL
    • WEAVES & WIGS
    • STRAIGHT
    • BRAIDS
    • CORNROWS
    • LOCS
    • PROTECTIVE STYLES
    • SHORT STYLES
    • TUTORIALS
  • CARE
    • ALL CARE
    • HAIR 101
    • ASK AN EXPERT
    • NATURAL
    • WEAVES & WIGS
    • STRAIGHT
    • BRAIDS
    • LOCS
    • TRANSITIONING
  • PRODUCTS
    • SHOP
    • LEARN
  • FEATURES
    • HAIR STORY
    • ON THE STREET
    • WORKING GIRL
    • CONVERSATIONS
    • LIFE
    • CULTURE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • \\ VIEW ALL
  • TV
    • BLACK HAIR IS…
    • DIY vs DFY
    • #HAIRTIES
    • Mom Cuts
    • PRETTY
    • PRETTY SHOULDN’T HURT
    • YOU CAN TOUCH MY HAIR
    • ON THE SCENE
    • \\ VIEW ALL
  • BOUTIQUE
    • CONDITIONERS
    • STYLING
    • SHAMPOO
    • TREATMENTS
    • \\ VIEW ALL
from the editor: the many shades of black
  • 0
  • 4316

from the editor: the many shades of black

  • by Antonia
  • Features / From the Editor

– by Antonia

The world is filled with so many different types of people that it’s probably impossible for us to fully grasp the magnitude of our nuances. We try to make a little sense of who we are by categorizing each other based on geography, physical characteristics and cultural norms. And while such categorizations have the ability to both separate and connect us, they don’t come close to telling the full breadth of our story. They fail to capture the stories that fall within the gradated spaces that lie in the in-betweens. The stories of Black are probably so varied that they can fill a library.

For a while now, we’ve been yearning to learn more about us. We get a few stories on TV and in magazines. We see a few shades in advertisements. A chapter or two in history books. But our full story hasn’t and isn’t being told. It may be too rich and too vast to put it all on paper, but this year at Un’ruly we’re going to get some of it down. This year we’re going to explore the various hues of Black. Black has so much meaning in present day because we weren’t Black until we left Africa. Before then we were our ethnic identities–Igbo, Ashanti, Wolof and so on. But imperialism and slave trade stripped us of our ethnic and cultural colorings and labeled us with one easy over-simplified identifier, an identifier that, as a result, goes beyond skin color. In many countries Black is a socio-economic category; it’s an indicator of political orientation; it’s a stigma; a behavior. And we’re diving into all of that this year because classifications and labels have the power to limit a person’s view of who they are and who they can be. So it’s important that we explore and challenge the labels that have been placed on us and that we place on ourselves.

Let’s get the conversation going: What does being Black mean to you? Tell us in the comments.

 

the many shades of black

Each month we’re tackling a hot topic that helps us better understand the various aspects of Blackness.

 

black_art_feltrace

discuss: when did you first feel your race?

I first felt the color of my skin on a playground in London when I was about six years old…

 

marie-guillemine_benoist_portrait_of_a_negress_banner

black history: black images in european art

The classical paintings in the Louvre show us that Blacks indeed had a history of servitude in Europe, but we were also depicted as players in Greek myths, traders, warriors and kings.

 

baoule_3_big_b

what the baoulé taught me about beauty

We’re told to look inside a person to find their appeal. But what does that really mean? My trip to the Branly Museum gave me an alternative way of interpreting this tried and true saying.

 

whitenicious_dencia

skin bleaching: who’s the fairest of them all?

Is skin bleaching simply a form of self-fashioning and constructing one’s own physical identity or are there really deeper motives at play?

 

relaxer_demise

relaxers won’t be around for long

I see the demise of relaxers. The caustic chemical treatments that straighten kinky hair will fall as natural hair solidifies its place as a staple and not a fad in the Black hair world…

 

lagos_nigeria_potential-2

why nigeria’s economic potential matters

Knowing what you can be and where you can go is in and of itself a mandate to get going.

 

thando_hopa

thando hopa: choosing pretty

Thando’s story is not one of being confident despite being different; it’s one of understanding difference in a larger unifying context as well as tuning into our innate ability to decide who we are.

 

diandra_forrest_shaun_ross_b

the colorlessness of black

When unable to rely on stereotypical physical characteristics how does one define who they are?

 

wayetu_my_mother_never_b

my mother never told me to stay out of the sun

My mother never told me to stay out of the sun. I was never burdened with the tragedy of darkness, never locked my fingers across my brow for shade on rainless afternoons.

 

iggy_azalea

black music?

What is “Black music?” Is there such a thing? What essential characteristics give music a color?

 

christy lynch, on sound and place

Nigerian-American singer Christy Lynch gives us her take on how geography can impact music.

 

genevieve_nnaji_nigerian_actress

the ideal beauty from hollywood to nollywood

Have you ever wondered what more diversity in the media would actually look like? What would it do for what we consider beautiful? Would it ease pressure to meet a standard of beauty?

 

akara_small

black food: how what we eat connects us to where we’re from

I don’t know if there is such thing as White food but there is certainly such thing as Black food—as in food Black people eat. And it has a lot more depth to it than Urban Dictionary would make it seem.

 

 

Antonia
An entrepreneur at heart, I founded Un-ruly in 2013 after spending six great years in advertising. I'm über lazy when it comes to doing my hair so I'm always looking for easy and quick ways to care and style my hair. Website: https://un-ruly.com
Tags
  • from the editor
  • shades of black

Related posts

  • Conversations
0
How I Started Earning $200 a Month After 6 Years

How I Started Earning $200 a Month After 6 Years

3 years ago
  • Features
  • From the Editor
  • Life
0
Your Dreams Won’t Come True on Their Own | From the Editor

Your Dreams Won’t Come True on Their Own | From the Editor

5 years ago
  • From the Editor
0
We Got a Makeover!

We Got a Makeover!

7 years ago
  • Features
  • From the Editor
0
from the editor: by way of london

from the editor: by way of london

8 years ago

2 thoughts on “from the editor: the many shades of black”

  1. Shalari Drakes on at 10:07 pm said:

    ‘Black’ is a color, that was ignorantly defined into ‘race’ (which is a verb NOT an adjective) by the people that took us (who are the most recent descendants from Africa) to describe our classification and color.

    Reply ↓
  2. perri on at 4:24 am said:

    “Black” is a social construct to me, but it is also an identity. Race is an arbitrary category designated for the purpose of justifying oppression- but as fabricated as it is, it unites a people, tying them together through common experience. In this way, race is an identity and so Black is an identity.

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Post

un'ruly digest #12: december '13

by Staff

from the editor: the many shades of black
Next Post

introducing: un'covered

by Staff

from the editor: the many shades of black
Get Un-ruly In Your Inbox Each Week

Un-ruly was created to celebrate and inspire the versatility and beauty of Black hair and women.

Cassius Network

About Us    \    Press   \    Newsletter   \    Be on Un-ruly   \    Work With Us   \   Terms   \  Privacy   \    Advertise   \     Meet Up   \    Discover Yeluchi by Un-ruly

 

Loading Comments...