heavy is the head that wears the crown #FTLOBG

The popular Shakespearean quote after which this visual series is named is often used to refer to the weight of responsibility and sacrifice that comes with bearing one’s name, one’s title, one’s crown. In a time when Black women and girls must still fight against hair discrimination in schools and in the workplace, this project investigates the cost of beauty and celebrates the beauty of Black hair. By disrupting the shame many Black women and girls have often carried for their crowns, this project also addresses the privilege of cultural appropriation—which is to say, that many who covet and attempt to impersonate Black hair and Black culture would never embrace the totality of our experiences. #FortheLoveofBlackGirls

“Black girls are trained early in beauty salons to smell smoke on themselves but to never yell ‘fire’.”

— Dara Mathis, Shedding the Shame of a Black Girls' Broken Edges

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Story: Black Girl Miracle
Creative Direction and Photography: Chineze Okpalaoka
Cinematography: Matelli Graves
Hair: Mabintu Kanu
Makeup: Cassandra Owusu
BTS: Golder Baah
Models: Grace Tieko, Michelle Akomea, and Jennifer Angel
Studio: Sunup Studios