How Natural Hair Rocketed the First Black-Owned Business Onto the Stock Exchange

During the middle to late 1960s, politics were beginning to influence hairstyles, and the “natural” hairstyle started to take off. It went far beyond Dr. Martin Luther King telling people to be their authentic selves; the Black Is Beautiful and Black Power movements sprung to life. In Chicago, the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists and the Black Power Arts Movement were empowering residents, creating a new visual aesthetic, and painting positive images of Black people on buildings.