THE POLITICS OF HAIR

am haunted by a memory that recently returned to me. It’s from almost 20 years ago, and something I had long-forgotten until this year. I am sitting at brunch in New York with my boyfriend and our good friend Mary. She’s clever and funny and Black, and today she has brand new braids hanging down her back. I remember thinking they were so incredibly beautiful. And after marvelling for a bit, I asked if I could touch them. “Of course,” she said. I asked how long they had taken to finish and whether they felt