Change of Plans

 Shelby Mccain

Professor Harris

ENGL 2016-44378

2 December 2024

Change of Plans

For as long as people of african descent have existed to now we have experienced things such as slavery, civil rights movement, black lives matter movement, and the list  goes on. Now black people have created a genre called afrofuturism. This is specifically used to recreate the idea of what was or is in what we reimagined it to be. Makeup and hair are two ways that African descendant people can express themselves. From experience, I’ve done my makeup to change or express the way that I am feeling. Sometimes I even do my hair to make myself feel better. Not only that, but to change the narrative of my day. Many artists, writers, models, producers, and even influencers use makeup and hair to emphasize the futuristic point of view of afrofuturism. These two things  are incorporated into afrofuturism by expressing and emphasizing on what the person already knows. Not only that, but to change the narrative of what society has placed on our lives. Using today’s resources black people have incorporated a new perspective on appearance using hair and makeup, by going past what they see and know creating a new image that would be considered futuristic. 

The definition of afrofuturism is a movement in literature, music, art, etc., featuring futuristic or science fiction themes which incorporate elements of black history and culture. This definition is still being expanded upon to this day. For example, Octavia Butler says “You’ve got to make your own worlds. You’ve got to write yourself in”. She is saying in a world full of hatred create a world and reimagine it in a sense where things are different. That is only one way to look at it, another way is a movement using appearance. During black lives matter they used a fro as the hairstyle because it’s outside of what society has imagined black people to be.  

In the article “The Afrofuturist Beauty Renaissance Is Happening Now”  Written by Treye Green , it suggests that they incorporate visual elements to create something afrofuturistic such as a music video, film, play, or simply just a photograph.  For instance, it states, “Today, Black women artists and the teams that style them build upon that tradition, contributing to a canon that celebrates their beauty and allows them to set their own standards of glamour.” (Green) This is a prime example of what afrofuturism represents building upon what already exists to the idea of what could be. Green uses multiple artists such as Chloe Bailey. In particular, she uses her locs to form them in a way where it would be considered futuristic. Much like Grace Jones uses makeup to highlight her natural features to display a version of herself that is outside of the norm.  The artists and producers build an image of what they want to give to the world using their hair, makeup, and clothing. 

  Some may think that afrofuturism can only be a mental change of society's opinions about the past or future, but it could also be as simple as your appearance. The Rain by Missy Elliot music video taps into the afrofuturistic aesthetics inspired by Jones's legacy. The article states, “Much like Jones, her style embraced the bizarre, the androgynous, the otherworldly. She wasn't afraid to get weird with it and maintain a version of glamour that diverged from the norm” (Green). Missy Elliot’s thoughts were that she didn’t have to present herself as what other people consider “pretty” to still show off her beauty. She even wore grills and many went against anything that made women look masculine. Missy showed an afrofuturistic side and let the world know through her music, clothes, makeup, and hair that it’s okay to make change even if society doesn’t necessarily agree. 

In the past, African American artists weren’t able to do a lot with their physical appearance. Dawn Richard discusses her shift into the music industry. Richard says, “ It's something Richard says she wasn't able to enjoy early on in her career. "I remember going into the industry and being told I couldn't wear red lipstick, no color lips, because [it makes Black girls] look like clowns," she recalls. "It was so much. We had to have this bone-straight hair or the windblown look. We had to look a certain way or it isn't considered pop culture" (Green). This further expresses how hard it was for African American female artists. Now female artists feel like they should overly express themselves when it comes to everything. The industry attempted to place black female artists in a box little did they know what was to come. 

Growing up all I ever saw was black women getting perms, relaxers, or a weave. Black women were put in a box of thinking that was the only way to manage or like their hair. I even remember getting talked about for wearing my natural hair. Natasha Gatspard shares how everyone seemed to think that wearing something as natural as your hair was frowned upon in every aspect of your life. Gatspard  says, “These experiences are based on our commonly held expressed characteristic which is our truth, our essence...our African ancestry.”(Gatspard). I thought this was interesting because in reality our truth, our essence and our African ancestry is what made black people create afrofuturism. Octavia Butler for example wore her hair in a very short fro. Butler was one of many to write afrofuturistic stories and based on her appearance she was against the characteristics that society has placed on Black women. 

As a result, what society once placed on black people women specifically in the past and present now is being altered by black people with a platform. By using makeup and hair as my topic I was able to highlight the issues of today and how people with a platform were able to change what is or was into what could be. Afrofuturism was created for black people to think past what was placed on us or forced to be our reality. With that being said Gatspard and Green both incorporated examples and reasons for what afrofuturism is and the reason for doing it. Using today’s resources black people have turned the tables on the box we were put in.

Work Cited

Green, T. (2022, January 3). Black women artists are fueling an Afrofuturist beauty renaissance — report. Allure. https://www.allure.com/story/modern-afrofuturist-beauty

Mbilishaka, A. (2022, January 22). Healing Hair Trauma with Afrofuturism — PsychoHairapy. PsychoHairapy. https://www.psychohairapy.org/blog/healing-hair-trauma-with-afrofuturism

Five you should know: Black Women icons of Afrofuturism. (2023, September 5). National Museum of African American History and Culture. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/five-you-should-know-black-women-icons-afrofuturism