Beyond Gorilla Glue: The politics of Black women’s hair
OPINION: The attention that Tessica Brown’s story received is yet another example that for Black women, hair is not simply hair.
As a collective, our hearts broke when we saw
Tessica Brown share on TikTok that she mistakenly used Gorilla Glue on her hair. Brown’s post quickly went viral and thousands responded to #GorillaGlueGirl with empathy, compassion and care as well as ridicule.
The heavy-duty construction adhesive could not be washed out of Brown’s hair, compelling her to seek medical help to safely remove the Gorilla Glue from her hair. The attention that Brown’s story received is yet another example that for Black women, hair is not simply hair.