Book Pitch: Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry

Why Does It Matter?

Considering its darling illustrations and cheerful storyline, this picturebook does a lot of heavy lifting on the social justice front! It challenges the stereotypes that dominant society ascribes to African American men while normalizing Black hair textures and empowering young girls. In the interview with Penguin Kids below, Cherry and Vashti Harrison, the illustrator, speak to the intentional choices of narrative and design in their creation process, emphasizing the importance of portraying an authentic Black experience of father-daughter love. Cherry discusses the misconception that Black fathers do not play an active role in the institution of the family, whereas he has found them to be "one of the most involved [racial] groups in their kid's lives" (at 00:24-0:28 in "Meet Author..."). Furthermore, he uses this book to show that fathering can extend beyond traditional gender norms and that fathers can do the "everyday stuff" (00:34-00:39), such as styling hair—something Harrison recalls her father doing for her when she was young!

Watch the video below to hear more about Cherry and Harrison's objectives in creating Hair Love, which informs further discussion on this page.

On the Importance of Good Representation

"Hair Love | Meet author Matthew Cherry & illustrator Vashti Harrison." YouTube, uploaded by Penguin Kids, 7 May 2019, https://youtu.be/f46YdP8I92s.

Indeed, this book matters as literary art and material of activism because of the depiction of ungendered parenting and healthy familial relationships, and just as well for showcasing Black beauty. I believe the way it fits in a course on windows and mirrors is arguably the most crucial part of what makes the book matter. In a personal tone, Harrison says it in the interview: "kinky and coily—definitely not something I saw in books as a kid!" (01:34-01:39). Black people, especially Black women and girls—more to come in the following section on why this is—are a historically underrepresented and misrepresented people. Through Hair Love, Cherry and Harrison not only add to the much-delayed but increasing Black representation in literature and film, but also present Blackness to be accurate to their lived experiences or those they have observed up close. Non-Black readers with similar hair textures and styling practices to Zuri or those who otherwise do not conform to European beauty standards may also find representation in this picturebook.

Consider how literacy has acted as a gatekeeper to so many marginalized communities, and decide that you will no longer support a racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist, English-only status quo. Instead, work toward building an inclusive, honest, flexible, and responsive classroom where intersectional social justice is part of the fabric, woven throughout the day, to change the reality we live in together. (Jiménez, p. 160)

So far, this discussion has focused on some of the needs and benefits of Black representation for Black readers, and that should be the chief concern of any educator seeking to be more inclusive. Neither the interest in nor identifiability of white students with Hair Love should influence the decision to include this text on a course syllabus. White students have the unearned advantage of feeling comfortable in most social spaces; it is okay to let your classroom be the one place where they feel challenged—to a reasonable degree, of course. As Laura Jiménez states in the article "Mirrors and Windows with Texts and Readers: Intersectional Social Justice at Work in the Classroom," "[t]here is no perfect book that engages all students all the time" (p. 158). To the students whose attention you lose, Hair Love will mean a lot less than those who will be excited to see themselves and their families reflected—and they are the ones most deserving of this book and your teaching of it. 

Setting aside the concept of decentering whiteness in the classroom for a moment, exposure of non-Black students to Black representative literature can help those students develop an acceptance of diversity. Non-Black students have a unique opportunity with Hair Love to see a quotidian act of Black love, father and daughter styling hair. Consuming art such as Cherry's piece has the potential to change or at least bring into question stereotypes around Black hair and Black family structures based on racist prejudices students may or may not be aware they hold. Good representation does not necessarily entail contradicting or disproving such preconceived notions; rather, it is about presenting a people as they really are, who they know and understand themselves to be, and how they express sameness and difference within their particular social group. Differently put: good representation validates multifacetedness and does not rely on centuries-old generalities. Hair Love can be a window through which non-Black students have a clear, less opaque or 'white-tinted' view of the reality of Black existence.

Why Do Black Girls Especially Need This Representation?: Identity and Multiple Discrimination

Returning to the issue of the representation of Black women and girls: historically, there has been disproportionally less representation of Black women and girls compared to Black men and boys. Though Black men and boys have had less representation than white men and boys because of racialization and racism, sexism and patriarchal systems advantage Black men and boys over Black women and girls. Notably, sexism refers to the discrimination of the female sex over the male sex based on supposed biological inferiority. However, the use of this term in the current text aligns more with the notion of gender expression, cisnormative performances of femininity and masculinity, than sex difference. To recapitulate, not only do Black women and girls experience discrimination based on racialization, but they also experience discrimination based on their gender. This effect of cumulative identities (e.g., Black and woman/girl) is what academic Kimberlé Crenshaw understands as intersectionality, which she further describes and explains in the video below. 

"Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality?" YouTube, uploaded by National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), 22 Jun. 2018, https://youtu.be/ViDtnfQ9FHc.

Here is the definition of intersectionality Crenshaw provides the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) in the video:

A metaphor for understanding the ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves, and they create obstacles that are often not understood within conventional ways of thinking about anti-racism or feminism or whatever social justice advocacy structures we have. (0:08-0:32)

Crenshaw then puts intersectionality into perspective through this real-life example of multiple discrimination: "African American girls are six times more likely to be suspended than white girls. That's probably a race and gender problem. It's not just a race problem [and] it's not just a gender problem (0:37-0:47)." The gender aspect in this exhibit of discrimination is an attribution to the conventional performance of feminity, in which obedience and quietude are the expectation. Girls who do not act according to this role, even if less disobedient and loud than boys, are likely to receive consequences for behaving in a manner appropriate for boys but not for girls. In addition, race becomes an aggravating factor in determining such consequences because of certain prejudices against Black people and children, such as assumed unruliness. So, to reiterate Crenshaw's point, "it's not just a race problem [and] it's not just a gender problem" (00:44-0:47).

Hair Love needs to be on the syllabus for a course on children's literature and young adult fiction as art and activism. Teaching this picturebook is an opportunity to change white supremacist narratives and begin the process of dismantling oppressive patterns of thought in the students that will leave the classroom at the end of the end and reenter the society that has victimized Black women and girls for centuries. Show students that Black girls can be beautiful, capable, confident, and loving; it could be life-changing or life-saving, depending on who the students are.

Practice Intersectional Lesson Planning: Accommodate Different Learning Styles with this Short Film Based on the Book

Keeping in line with Crenshaw's intersectionality, there are more steps one can take to be inclusive of diverse identities in the classroom. Nearly all students have a range in physical, emotional, and cognitive ability that may alter or falter at any point in time with or without cause or warning. Therefore, an instructor must consider alternative ways of transmitting educational content in modes suitable for different abilities. With Hair Love, students may choose to read the book or watch the short film (with or without subtitles) or listen to the audio as the short film plays. If a student cannot acquire the analogue version, consider buying a copy for the class and lending it out like a library book. If a student cannot access the technology required to watch or listen to the film, offer to play it in class or open an office hour for the student to watch or listen from your device. Run out of ideas on how to accommodate? Ask the student!

"Hair Love | Oscar®-Winning Short Film (Full) | Sony Pictures Animation." YouTube, uploaded by Sony Pictures Animation, 5 Dec. 2019, https://youtu.be/kNw8V_Fkw28.

BONUS MEDIA CONTENT: Did You Know...

According to an article by Julia Jacobs for the New York Times, a Black student named DeAndre Arnold was suspended from his Texas high school because his dreads fell below "the top of a T-shirt," the limit set for male student's hair. Upon hearing this news, producers Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade of Hair Love the short film invited Arnold and his mother, Sandy, to the Oscar Awards ceremony. Cherry tweeted this photo of the group on the red carpet.

Team #HairLove + Deandre & Sandy Arnold #Oscars pic.twitter.com/uB6WvPi8Kt

— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) February 10, 2020

@MattewACherry. "Team #HairLove + Deandre & Sandy Arnold #Oscars." Twitter, 9 Feb. 2020, 7:18 p.m., https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/1226661666303008769?s=20&t=zWzGJRrqcFCeXB75dNaH4Q.

Sources

@MattewACherry. "Team #HairLove + Deandre & Sandy Arnold #Oscars." Twitter, 9 Feb. 2020, 7:18 p.m., https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/1226661666303008769?s=20&t=zWzGJRrqcFCeXB75dNaH4Q.

"Hair Love | Meet author Matthew Cherry & illustrator Vashti Harrison." YouTube, uploaded by Penguin Kids, 7 May 2019, https://youtu.be/f46YdP8I92s.

"Hair Love | Oscar®-Winning Short Film (Full) | Sony Pictures Animation." YouTube, uploaded by Sony Pictures Animation, 5 Dec. 2019, https://youtu.be/kNw8V_Fkw28. 

Jacobs, Julia. "'Hair Love' Receives a Lot of Love at the Oscars for Best Animated Short Film." The New York Times, 9 Feb. 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/09/movies/hair-love-oscars-animated-short.html. Accessed 3 Apr. 2022. 

Jiménez, Laura M. "Mirrors and Windows with Texts and Readers: Intersectional Social Justice at Work in the Classroom." Language Arts Lessons, vol. 98, no. 3, 2021, pp. 156-161, https://www.bu.edu/wheelock/files/2021/02/LA_Volume_98_Issue_3_Language-Arts-Lessons_-Mirrors-and-Windows-with-Texts-and-Readers_-Intersectional-Social-Justice-at-Work-in-the-Classroom.v2.pdf. Accessed 3 Apr. 2022. 

"Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality?" YouTube, uploaded by National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), 22 Jun. 2018, https://youtu.be/ViDtnfQ9FHc.