Loving Blackness: Black Women Digital Content Creators And The Transformative Healing Powers Of The Contemporary Natural Hair Movement
May 2016
in “
WakeSpace (Wake Forest University)
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Studysummary This thesis argues that digital content creation in the homespace empowers Black women with natural hair by fostering community and transformative healing through the practice of testifying.
Our plain-language summary. Not medical advice or a treatment recommendation. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing treatment. Full disclaimer
The thesis by Candis Tate examined how Black women digital content creators with natural hair used their personal spaces, or homespaces, to claim space on the internet and support other Black women with natural hair. By analyzing five YouTube videos through a womanist perspective, the study highlighted how these creators used the act of testifying as a communicative process. This combination of personal space and storytelling was argued to have a transformative healing power, encouraging and mobilizing Black women across the diaspora to embrace their natural hair, contributing to the Contemporary Natural Hair Movement.
