Anyone Can Wear Braids – But Acknowledge Its Origins

Braids and cultural appropriation has once again become topic of discussion

PICTURED: Kim Kardashian

I’M AN avid braid wearer and have been my entire life. From box braids to micro braids, decorated in an array of colourful beads and gold accessories, in various geometric shapes and patterns in every colour from red to grey – I’ve done it all and then some.

Being able to switch up your hair to fit whatever mood or vibe your in is a lot of fun, and can provide a surge of confidence that I would love for all women to feel – which is why I must stress the point that braids can be worn by anyone and I do not have a problem with that.

However, before all the naysayers and critics bombard me with comments stating “It’s just a hairstyle for god sake” I’d actually like to agree with you – a shock, I know.

Yes, braids are a hairstyle that can ultimately be worn by anyone – but this ‘mere’ hairstyle serves as more than that to black women and those who grew up doing these hairstyles from childhood and beyond.

For black women, braids have a particularly rich and extensive history, that goes far beyond the style worn by celebrities and featured in trend reports from your favourite Women’s monthly magazines. From its origins in Nigeria’s ancient Nok civilisation to its cultural survival during slavery and resurgence in hip hop, cornrows have had a politically fraught journey to the present day and has now resulted in a blurry debate about where we draw the line on its cultural appropriation.

Braids date back as early as 1000 BC, most significantly in Nigeria’s ancient Nok civilisation. The Nok culture is one of the earliest sightings of it within Africa and it began as traditional african hairstyles, which “ranged from complex curves and spirals to the strictly linear composition.” Beyond the fascinating ability to style their hair in a variety of shapes, braids also represented signs of kinship, family and expressed shared culture and the bonds between friends.

The meaning and lineage behind the popular hairstyle is deep, meaningful and most importantly, culturally and historically a representation of African culture and one of the many traditions that black people were able to maintain (despite the ‘pesky’ colonisation which so many like to ignore).

ORIGIN: Fulani braids

Which is why when Kim Kardashian posted on Snapchat that she was wearing ‘Bo Derek’ braids, it caused understandable annoyance among some black women – women who have been wearing this hairstyle for years and have never identified the style with a popular white actress from a film in the 70s.

To reference the hairstyle as ‘Bo Derek braids’ is the literal definition of cultural appropriation and white-washing.

Taking something from another culture, wearing it and then not assigning credit to the rightful creator is what most find annoying. Not the fact that Kim is wearing them – in fact, they look pretty good on her in my opinion.

Let’s be real: There are enough Instagram pages, Twitter threads and more dedicated to braids and African hairstyles to know that the style she’s wearing isn’t referred to as ‘Bo Derek braids’ and in a social media age where you can literally discover a wealth of information at a click of a button, clearly shows that there really isn’t an excuse for willful ignorance – so why?

Braids – and in particular the style that Kim are wearing – are called Fulani braids, which consist of braids with beads, but the braid patterns used are inspired by the Fulani people–a group in Africa that’s located throughout West Africa and parts of East Africa. See how easy it was to learn something new and to not complete whitewash something?

For those who complain about constant discussion about cultural appropriation, the above paragraph is a simple rule of thumb and get out of jail card so you don’t have to deal with it anymore: Just credit the culture you took the style from. It doesn’t take much and it’ll save you a world of complaining and for many, a world of explaining.

Comments Form

9 Comments

  1. | Chaka Artwell

    Today many people believe African-braids originated with Caucasian Ms Bo Derek.

    In the European future, pupils will be taught that caribbean reggae music was created by an English Musical band called UB40.

    Reply

  2. | Katherine

    I loved this mini trip through history and am going to do more research surrounding different styles, starting with the Nok people. Credit where credit is due!

    Reply

  3. | Lewis

    Picts, irish, goths, franks and germanic tribes wore braids too

    Reply

    • | Anjelcia

      “Posted on 31st October 2022 | Lewis
      Picts, irish, goths, franks and germanic tribes wore braids too”

      The writings of jealously.

      Those people are not indigenous Africans (I exclude white north africans as well as non Africans living in the continent) those people listed never wore such braids. Not to mention you don’t know and cannot list the tribes who wore them.

      Reply

  4. | leilani

    non black people shouldn’t wear box braids period. black cultural is taken and being warped into something thats it not everyday and this hair style should be for us and us ONLY!

    Reply

  5. | blah trope blah

    Posted on 31st October 2022 | Lewis

    Picts, irish, goths, franks and germanic tribes wore braids too

    Trope is does as trope does. When other cultures mention braids everyone seems to understand or will do research of those people’s braids and will respect. The moment black people mention braids people have to bring up the stupid:

    “all cultures have braids”

    “no one owns a culture”

    and

    “everything is meant to be shared”.

    With the exception of black people, everyone will make monetary gains off of black cultures and are forced to share despite always stolen from. While every other race or group of people get to have theirs respected.

    Reply

  6. | Maria

    Culture is shared and changed through out the years within its original origin and outside of it. The name of so many foods have changed names and continue to do so as well as ethnic regalia and fashion. If you are offended by people referencing fashion or culture that you do not consider within the fine lines of your perspective origin, then that’s on you. If the intention was never to harm than it’s not a problem, Kim simply called them Bo Derek braids because of the actress who she saw wear them, that does not take the importance or history of the braids, it actually adds to it and reveals the extent of how far that culture has woven throughout the world. Bringing awareness and information is all well, but blaming and considering yourself righteous and above everyone else is not.

    Ex: Not Calling tomatoes it’s native name and considering them an Italian staple food does not take away that it was originally Native to the Americas people and was not in the old world till the 17th century. Who cares if the name or reference changes, you can never take the history away. I’m proud of my culture and the many named braids out there, even if someone uses a different name for them than the one I’m used too.

    Reply

  7. | Annoymous

    I don’t the copying of braids when we blk women were shunned when we wore our heritage braids. Where do they think Bo Derek copied from ???

    Reply

  8. | Lolly

    Native Americans, Greeks, Romans and Celtic (Irish) art have depicted people in cornrows as long as 1,000 years ago. I know that’s not what you want to hear but braids, any kind, were not just done by one race of people. African Americans are not the only people who wore braids. These other cultures didn’t know shit about Africans. So how could they steal it from them? This is all a little ridiculous. No one owns a hairstyle.

    Reply

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