An upcoming Harrisburg show will explore an often-overlooked social justice issue—Black hair discrimination.
“HairStory: Reclaiming Our Crown” will debut at Gamut Theatre in early May, poetically sharing stories of hair inequality and Black hair history.
“This is really huge in the Black community, how you have to change yourself to be accepted,” said playwright Maria James-Thiaw, founder of Reclaim Artist Collective, which is presenting the show.
The show follows the journey of a young, Black aspiring journalist, Aleyah. Her editor assigns her a story about Black-owned beauty shops and her research takes her back in time to learn about African traditions. She also hears more recent stories of how people of color have been ostracized and objectified for their hair.
The stories Aleyah encounters in the show are true, as James-Thiaw conducted in-depth research and interviews with local Black women, men and children and included their experiences in the show.
“I hope that people are really moved,” she said. “I hope that people with African textured hair would feel heard and seen and maybe learn something about their history that they didn’t know.
The show is a choreopoem, a play written in poetic form, and features a 13-person cast, drummers, visual art, song and African dance.
James-Thiaw was inspired to explore and research the topic of hair after working with students at Harrisburg’s Capital Area School for the Arts (CASA) during the collective’s residency program there. Members of the collective worked with senior students to come up with a theme for a storytelling project, and the students chose the topic of hair. Much like James-Thiaw would later do, students interviewed family members and wrote their hair stories.
“They learned a lot,” she said. “It was really inspirational.”
Maria James-Thiaw
James-Thiaw has her own hair story. For 20 years, she had dreadlocks and recalled several times colleagues or even strangers would touch her hair without permission. These macro-aggressions are something that many people of color have had to endure, she said.
James-Thiaw cited information from a study by the Dove Corporation that shows that Black women are 54% more likely to feel that they have to straighten their hair for a job interview to be successful. Additionally, over 20% of young Black women have been sent home from work because of their natural hair.
“A lot of people don’t realize that Black hair is a social justice issue,” said HairStory Director Roe Braddy, “It can affect you at work, in school and even in church. It is also a public health issue.”
The show is also sponsored by the Harrisburg Chapter of the Links, Inc., a philanthropic, African American women’s organization that works to uplift Black women and girls.
Not only does James-Thiaw hope viewers learn from the play, but she also hopes they’ll be entertained as the show includes humor, song and dance.
“I’m just really excited,” she said
“HairStory: Reclaiming our Crown” will show at Gamut Theatre on May 4 through 7. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Gamut’s website. To learn more about Reclaim Artist Collective, visit their website.
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