Q1: What is the mission/purpose of the organization?
A1: The organization being represented on this website is owned by Mariame Kaba. She produced an essay entitled Restoring Black Women’s Agency: Hair Straightening as Rational Choice.
Briefly, the background on the client and the product is that Ms. Kaba is a PhD student at Northwestern University in the Department of Sociology. She has an B.A. degree from McGill University and an M.A. from the City College of New York. It is her master’s level work where the 21-page essay on Restoring Black Women’s Agency comes from. Her thesis was on the topic of the politics of Black women’s hair and the essay is a shortened version of that thesis.
The client originally wanted the entire thesis to be turned into a website. Unfortunately, there are some logistical problems involved with retrieving the entire document. Therefore, the shortened version will become the main knot that will hold the website together.
The rationale of the essay is based on the fact that 75 per cent of Black women straighten their hair. Based on mass media articles, journal essays, poetry, novels and interviews, Ms. Kaba aims to address the question: Why do so many Black women succumb to the often painful practice of hair straightening? Through her essay she aims to educate her audience as to what she sees as “white power envy”being the principal reason why so many Black women straighten their hair.
Ms. Kaba’s purpose is to educate people on how straightened hair is a significant symbol in the white power dynamics that exist in American society. Using her scholarship as a main thread, this site will weave together a hair piece that will highlight the purpose of the organization.
Ms. Kaba is also interested in promoting the research efforts of the webmaster. She has made it possible for the research of Donna Kakonge to also be a feature on the website. The research relates to the politics of Black hair.
Q2: What are short and long term goals of the site?
A2: There are three short term goals of the site. First, to educate a wider audience on the politics of Black women’s hair. Second, to create a virtual resource centre for anyone in any field looking to do research on the topic of Black hair. Third, to publish Ms.Kaba’s work to a wider audience.
The long term goal is to provide a site that will be the basis for an on-going dialogue from all races of people on the topic of Black women’s (and people’s) hair. The audience is key to the long term goal because their reactions, comments, suggestions, etc. will prove vital in terms of further research concerning Black hair and its politics.
Q3: Why will people come to the site?
A3: People will come to site initially because of its attractive layout. People who are interested in politics, in particular racialized politics will find the information about hair of interest. Not only is the issue of Black hair inclusive in an evaluation of Black politics, it also encompasses feminist issues around racial identity, it’s a media studies issue which brings in a critique of popular culture. Most importantly, a high percentage of people have hair and understanding its significance would be interesting for anyone with the mind space or who is willing to make the room in their mind for this information.
Q4: Who are the intended audiences?
A4: The intended audiences I will arrange in explanation in a racial way since we are talking about hair, and it is second only to skin colour when it comes to determining race:
Black women with super curly hair are an important audience so that they will feel more pride in their hair. Black women with wavy to straight hair are a secondary audience who will come to know more about the super curly hair, and more about their own hair. The aim is that these women might stop seeing their hair as the only “good hair.”
Black men with various textured hair will understand the role they play in enforcing a beauty standard that demands straight hair. The website may appeal to those gentlemen that do not prefer blondes. One Black man once said that he thought for the longest time that all Black women had naturally straight hair, unlike Black men. This website will give people like him a different perspective.
For all those women who are non-Black who have various textures of hair, they will come to understand how hair influences the public image Black women have in society. For those non-Black women with Black hair, they too can come to understand how their hair affects them in society.
Non-black men with various textured hair will come to understand the role they play in constructing and maintaining a society that rejects Black hair, and ultimately rejects an essence of Blackness.
Finally, for those without any hair, this website will illustrate how our society places such an importance on hair.
The feedback of everyone will be vital to maintaining the website. All audiences are desired.
A1: The organization being represented on this website is owned by Mariame Kaba. She produced an essay entitled Restoring Black Women’s Agency: Hair Straightening as Rational Choice.
Briefly, the background on the client and the product is that Ms. Kaba is a PhD student at Northwestern University in the Department of Sociology. She has an B.A. degree from McGill University and an M.A. from the City College of New York. It is her master’s level work where the 21-page essay on Restoring Black Women’s Agency comes from. Her thesis was on the topic of the politics of Black women’s hair and the essay is a shortened version of that thesis.
The client originally wanted the entire thesis to be turned into a website. Unfortunately, there are some logistical problems involved with retrieving the entire document. Therefore, the shortened version will become the main knot that will hold the website together.
The rationale of the essay is based on the fact that 75 per cent of Black women straighten their hair. Based on mass media articles, journal essays, poetry, novels and interviews, Ms. Kaba aims to address the question: Why do so many Black women succumb to the often painful practice of hair straightening? Through her essay she aims to educate her audience as to what she sees as “white power envy”being the principal reason why so many Black women straighten their hair.
Ms. Kaba’s purpose is to educate people on how straightened hair is a significant symbol in the white power dynamics that exist in American society. Using her scholarship as a main thread, this site will weave together a hair piece that will highlight the purpose of the organization.
Ms. Kaba is also interested in promoting the research efforts of the webmaster. She has made it possible for the research of Donna Kakonge to also be a feature on the website. The research relates to the politics of Black hair.
Q2: What are short and long term goals of the site?
A2: There are three short term goals of the site. First, to educate a wider audience on the politics of Black women’s hair. Second, to create a virtual resource centre for anyone in any field looking to do research on the topic of Black hair. Third, to publish Ms.Kaba’s work to a wider audience.
The long term goal is to provide a site that will be the basis for an on-going dialogue from all races of people on the topic of Black women’s (and people’s) hair. The audience is key to the long term goal because their reactions, comments, suggestions, etc. will prove vital in terms of further research concerning Black hair and its politics.
Q3: Why will people come to the site?
A3: People will come to site initially because of its attractive layout. People who are interested in politics, in particular racialized politics will find the information about hair of interest. Not only is the issue of Black hair inclusive in an evaluation of Black politics, it also encompasses feminist issues around racial identity, it’s a media studies issue which brings in a critique of popular culture. Most importantly, a high percentage of people have hair and understanding its significance would be interesting for anyone with the mind space or who is willing to make the room in their mind for this information.
Q4: Who are the intended audiences?
A4: The intended audiences I will arrange in explanation in a racial way since we are talking about hair, and it is second only to skin colour when it comes to determining race:
Black women with super curly hair are an important audience so that they will feel more pride in their hair. Black women with wavy to straight hair are a secondary audience who will come to know more about the super curly hair, and more about their own hair. The aim is that these women might stop seeing their hair as the only “good hair.”
Black men with various textured hair will understand the role they play in enforcing a beauty standard that demands straight hair. The website may appeal to those gentlemen that do not prefer blondes. One Black man once said that he thought for the longest time that all Black women had naturally straight hair, unlike Black men. This website will give people like him a different perspective.
For all those women who are non-Black who have various textures of hair, they will come to understand how hair influences the public image Black women have in society. For those non-Black women with Black hair, they too can come to understand how their hair affects them in society.
Non-black men with various textured hair will come to understand the role they play in constructing and maintaining a society that rejects Black hair, and ultimately rejects an essence of Blackness.
Finally, for those without any hair, this website will illustrate how our society places such an importance on hair.
The feedback of everyone will be vital to maintaining the website. All audiences are desired.
Comments
Post a Comment