Celebrating the Beauty of Hair

As many Lowell families know, students work hard during Black History Month to research figures and decorate their doors to celebrate Black culture, accomplishments, and social justice advocates. Primary School students recently took a walk around their building to observe the decorations, and Pre-Primary School students are similarly eager to show off their contributions. Inspired by classroom books and conversations celebrating the beauty of everyone’s hair, friends in the Adventurers Room chose to make hair the theme of their doorway display. Teachers Denielle and Iris asked the group to think about the different hairstyles they have seen in books, at home, and among their friends. “Children mentioned afros, buns, extensions, braids, cornrows, bantu knots, bald fades, twists, curls, and puffs,” said the teachers. “So many great ideas!” 

Together the children decided on twists. Over several days, they took turns manipulating the strands nearly as tall as the students. “We took a long piece of yarn, made sure it was all even on the bottom, and then we twisted it,” remembered one friend. Next, they added some decoration: “We put beads on the yarn in different colors. We slipped them on—it was really hard,” shared another student. As the hair began to come together, some students observed that their creation reminded them of children in their class. With the twists complete, they finally added the hair to a large cut-out of a child’s face. 

For finishing touches, students glued up pictures of children wearing different hairstyles and covers of books like Our Hair is Different and Hair Love. “We read a lot of books about hair. There was one called Don’t Touch My Hair. Some people touched her hair even if she didn’t want them to. I made her mad,” summarized one child.

The final piece of the door decoration reflected what the class learned about the CROWN Act. One friend learned, “People were telling other people that they couldn’t wear their hair the way they liked.” Many students agreed that they would feel mad or sad if they didn’t couldn’t make their own choices about their style. “[The CROWN Act] tells other people they can wear their hair however they want,” shared another friend. Guided by teachers, students discovered that progress still needs to be made: “In some places, they’re still working on it.” 

Decorating their door was a long process, full of cooperation and learning for the students in the Adventurers room. When asked how they felt when their creation was complete, the response was unanimous: “Happy! Happy! Happy!” they chanted together.