I capitalized on my 10th-graders’ obsession with their hair by devising a writing exercise that I hoped would open a dialogue between my black and white students. As part of a unit on individuality, I had them write a “hair-ography”—an autobiography told from the viewpoint of one’s hair.
First, I asked each sophomore to interview a classmate whose hair was as different as possible from their own (in length, color, texture, etc.). I composed a list of rather bland questions (e.g., What was the worst haircut you ever had?) to get them started. The bonus came when students started asking more pointed questions that broached cultural differences.
Mysteries about dreadlocks, weaves, permanents, cornrows, teasing, straightening and coloring were unraveled that day. For example, when Keisha explained what her three hours in the beauty shop the past weekend had entailed, Marla responded, “Well, you’re still lucky. My hair looks like uncooked spaghetti, no matter what I try.”
Many students discovered they had experienced similar hair challenges. When Annalise complained to Marcus that she had always been embarrassed by her dazzling red hair and was furious when her mother forbade her to dye it, Marcus related how he wanted to have his initials “carved” into his hair but his parents said, “Absolutely not!”
After the teens completed their interviews, they compiled the information and presented it back to their partners, who used it as material for rough drafts of their hair’s autobiography. I provided sample starter sentences, such as “It’s been a rough life here on top of Brandon’s head.”
In their hair-ography, the teens wrote about memorable incidents in their hair’s existence: being shampooed, yanked by a sibling or humiliated with a bow. I provided a mirror and had each student choose a sheet of “multicultural” construction paper that best matched his or her skin tone. After cutting out the shape of a face, each student copied the hair-ography onto the cutout and topped it with a hairstyle worn at some time during his or her life.
After sharing their completed projects, students displayed them on the bulletin board. Then, I asked them to write a brief reflection on how this activity had affected their ideas or opinions. Some black students described how, until this exercise, they thought all white people liked their own hair. White girls wrote such things as “I knew Keisha spent a lot time at the beauty parlor; now I know exactly what goes on there.” Another typical comment was “I guess it doesn’t matter who you are; all teenagers worry about their hair.”
The enthusiasm with which my 10th graders took to this activity prompted me to use it later with elementary students. In both instances, the outcome was a frank and open discussion of shared and diverse experiences.
Peggy Epstein
Ruskin High School
Kansas City, Mo.
