In the late 1970’s Reggae artists such as Bob Marley helped launch the popular introduction of dreadlocks.  Following the anti-establisment sentiments of their parents during the 1960’s, Marley and his music attracted a new generation of young Blacks and leftist Whites who found hope, inspiration and motivation to unite against oppression, racism and cultural misunderstanding.  Although Marley helped usher in a new generation of lock wearers, it wasn’t until the late 1990’s when musicians from other genres, pro-athletes and actors began to wear locks and further the popular globalization of the hair style. 


Unlike Jamaican Reggae artists who wear traditional or “Rasta locks,” modern-day African-American entertainers who adopt the style are often not Rastafarian and many choose dreadlocks for reasons other than spirituality.  Whether they be a racial statement, a source of Black pride or merely a hair style, to understand the modern-day dreadlocks, we must examine the socio-economic impact of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

The 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in the United States sparked a growing interest in unadultured or “natural” African hair.  Styles such as the Afro emerged and there was increasing interest amongst African-Americans to reject chemical processes.  However, as the 1960’s came to a close and African-Americans obtained greater economic opportunity through government programs such as Affirmative Action, many Blacks traded in their protests for briefcases.

By the 1980’s as more African-Americans entered the corporate arena, many began to readopt assimilationist ideals with regard to hair style and appearance.  It was during this period that unadultered African hair once again took a back seat to relaxed and weaved styles and gradually began to reacquire the negative connotations that stemmed from slavery.  

Concepts that are widely understood in African-American culture today such as “going natural” were rejected during the 1980’s as “natural”  at that time meant “nappy” and “kinky;” words which have traditionally been used to degrade unadultered African hair.  Although a sub-culture of Blacks continued the positive notions generated from the protests of the 1960’s and artists such as Bob Marley, the majority believed unadultered African hair to be ugly, unattractive, masculine and detestable or “dreadful” way to wear ones’ hair.

Despite increased rejection of unadultured African hair, African-American writers, film directors and artists began to take up the banner that had earlier been abandoned for economic gain.  Popular African-American films such as Spike Lee’s “School Daze” directly confronted the issue of intraracial discrimination in Black culture as well as the belief for some that unadultered African hair sparks racist fueled images of an uncivilized, pagan people.  

Soon, a sub-culture in the African-American community developed and there was resurgence in appreciation for unadultered African hair.  Ironically, despite increased interest in natural hair styles, dreadlocks still remained taboo.  It wasn’t until the mid-1990’s that we see greater acceptance amongst African-Americans of dreadlocked hair.

Although there are many famous African-Americans who helped launch the Natural Hair Movement, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu are of the most notable.  These two women helped inspire a generation of young Blacks who do not have to deal with the day-to-day oppression that is typical of the pre-Civil Rights era, but who are seeking the same level of consciousness, personal acceptance and equality that began in the 1960s.  


By the mid-1990’s however, there was a proliferation in Conscious Hip-Hop and R&B.  As with Bob Marley and Reggae, popular artists and songwriters such as Hill and Badu wrote inspiring lyrics and opened the door for the acceptance of natural Black hair styles.  As a result, many African-American women began rejecting relaxers and chemical processes often to the extent of shaving their heads.  What makes this phenomenon so significant is that a decade earlier, Tracy Chapman received much criticism when she released “Fast Cars” in 1988 and doned a very short, pre-dreadlocks style.

Chapman’s story is indicative of the dual reality of dreadlocks; although dreadlocks are natural hair, they were still taboo in the African-American community.  Whether it be the misconception that one can not wash dreadlocks or that they must be cut completely in order to wear alternate styles, African-Americans, both relaxed and natural, continued to harbor negative perceptions of dreadlocks.  It was only in larger metropolitain areas in the US that dreadlocks were in high incidence and this is possibly due to the greater number of Jamaican immigrants in these areas.  

In the latter part of the 20th century dreadlocks were gaining footing in African-American sub-culture, but it wasn’t until the 1998 release of Lauyn Hill’s multi-platinum, Grammy Award winning debut solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” that we see a notable increase in individuals wearing the style.  Hill, who’d already gained popularity as a member of the Hip-Hop group The Fugees, had natural hair for some time but it was the depiction of her on the album’s cover with dreadlocks and inspiring lyrics of self-love contained within that inspired many African-American women across the country to consider dreadlocks as a viable styling option.

Gradually as more African-American celebrities began to wear dreadlocks, the hair style’s visibility in popular American culture increased as well.  Given that celebrities often dictate African-American cultural trends, many people began to either adopt dreadlocks for themselves and question common dreadlocks misconceptions.  For example, the unkempt look of dreadlocks does not necessarily mean that dreadlocks are "unclean."  Many have learned that although dreadlocks do not require the use of traditional styling tools, it does have its own unique and hygienic means of hair care and as more people opted for the style, new techniques and systematic ways of growing dreadlocks were developed.

Rasta locks or Organic locks are often the images that come to mind when most think of the dreadlocks hair style.  However, Nubian locks, Sisterlocks™, Brotherlocks, Interlocks and Salon locks are all ways in which matted hair can be styled.  What differentiates each term is the manner in which the dreadlocks are created and cared for.  Thus today with increased choice, high visibility and greater understanding, dreadlocks are gradually moving from the spiritual and taboo realms and are now being embraced by popular cultures throughout the world.

I actually wrote the previous article, Dreadlocks in the 1980-90s, about a year ago but my how things have changed.  It's as if I've suddenly been alerted to the fact that I'm old :-)  Granted I'm only 31 but keeping up with these youngin's would bout kill someone my age. 

See, I'm a 90's baby.  No, I wasn't born then but it's the period in my life when I got my wings.  High School, College...I learned so much about myself during that period in life and although I'm sure there are tons of lessons around the corner, it was via the music and books of that period in which I found my voice.

When Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu emerged, it was as if women in my generation found a renewed sense of pride.  I'm not saying it was lacking in prior decades (I mean who could forget the positive hip-hop coming out of New York in the 80's...Self Destruction, you're head for self-destruction).  Hmm...self destruction, maybe that's what this article will be about.  I said maybe because I haven't figured out what I'm going to say or how I exactly feel at the moment.

I suppose the debate that exists within my mind, also exists within African-American culture as a whole.  How do we remember our past?  This entire series on the history of dreadlocks was not meant to fill your head with knowledge you may never need or use but rather to tap into that age-old adage - "If you don't know where you've been, you can't know where you're going."

We've learned that dreadlocks have spanned the globe and that they are possibly the world's...the world's oldest hair style.  When you think about it, how deep is that?  We've learned that dreadlocks existed during Biblical times, that they represented in ancient statues throughout Egypt and India, that Celtic warriors adorned them, that they were worn by people of varing religions, cultures, societies and races and finally that they were subjugated, mocked and degraded by a racist, political elite in Jamaica that changed the world's view of this hair style.

The history of dreadlocks is deep and it was that history that inspired me to go natural and eventually grow dreadlocks.  I wonder if today's youth feel the same way? 

The sad reality is that African-American culture is at another pivotal point in history.  In about a week this nation may elect its first Black president.  And had he not been running, it could've elected it's first woman...Hillary Clinton.  How can we argue that their is discrimination in the face of this undeniable reality...things have changed.  But my question is, are we any better?

I love seeing Black folk with dreadlocks and natural hair.  It's truly inspiring.  But when someone sits down in my chair and I have to dawn a set of gloves and alcohol wipes (for the gloves!) or when I see a stylist doing or putting something absolutely horrendous on a client's hair, I'm troubled.  What's the point in moving forward it if that's going to be the end result?

I long for the days when dreadlocks were reserved for a select few.  Back then being a part of the dreadlocks and natural black hair culture meant that you had developed a sense of worth and being that resulted in a big "fuck you to the establishment."  Back then, folks would light up whenever they passed another natural or dread on the street.  Back then, it was rare.  But now...

Did I miss something or is one required to wear dreadlocks in the rap industry?  Did I miss something or are a lot of young guys under the mistaken impression that in order to have dreadlocks that you have to be filthy in terms of their care?  You see, I don't want to be associated with this new generation of lockers.  True, not all new lockers are bad but far too many miss the point.  Unlike India Arie, I am my hair.

I am not only my hair, I am the color of my skin, I am my gender, I am the city I grew up in, I am my weight, I am all the things that make me, me.  I don't hold any more or less pride as a result of my dreadlocks and no, I do not long for the day when they become "just a hair style." 

The reality is, are we people or are we Black people?  You see, it means something to be Black.  It means a history that is marked with degredation, subjugation, humiliation, protestation, organization...all the "tion's" you can thing of.  I don't want to assimilate.  Where we're already like the millions of white Americans who are a melange of this culture or that, where we have difficulty tracing our geneology before the 1900's, there was one thing we could rest assured of, we are Niggers, we are Colored, we are Negro, we Afro-American, we are Black, we are African-American.  Each of those terms mean something.  Being Black means something.  And folks, dreadlocks means something. 

I hope that you know their history...I hope that you know the history of natural Black hair, not to turn you into a pro-Black radical but rather to instill within yourself a bit knowledge that used to be reserved for the precious few.  Our history makes us unique.  It's as if a gift, sometimes a really screwed up gift, but a gift nonetheless has been passed down through generations, across oceans and time.  These beautiful gifts make us who we are and we should appreciate them and celebrate them in ways that don't minimize their importance, their impact or their beauty.

Yeah, I'm getting preachy but it's hard to be dispassionate when I'm talking about dreadlocks...when I'm talking about me.