- This is my first day, but I keep on pushing.
I'm like, I'm strong.
This is fine.
- Is it hurting?
- I will get through it.
(hip hop music)
- [Ava DuVernay] I think when we talk about the hair journey
of black people in this country,
hair is just a stand-in for
anything that has been oppressed, managed, controlled.
- So, one of the things that we wanted to accomplish
in telling these stories, was being able to paint
in many ways, black and white pictures.
Giving people references of what microaggressions may be.
Being black, adopted into a white family,
that becomes an obvious aspect of this.
- The slightest little comment that could be seen
as harmless can affect one's image of self.
- Your gym teacher is your basketball coach, right?
- Yeah.
- Think he'll like your hair like that?
- [Nakoya Yancey] I've been doing hair for 28 years.
I was asked by Ava to do cornrows for Jayden.
Most typically takes two to three hours
depending on how intricate.
- What Ava and I were thinking in the first episode
for cornrows is, Colin has never left the house before
without telling his parents,
but there was a need to be embraced by his blackness.
- Colin's grappling with issues of black hair
in a society that doesn't respect black hair
and wants to tame it.
- One of the reasons Michael Jordan accomplished so much,
is because he's bald.
I bet you could get to Supercuts tonight, if you hurry.
- It is a constantly evolving relationship
between the parents.
- [Nick Offerman] It's strange to have jumped back
to the Kaepernick's dining room table and play these scenes
where these benevolent parents had wisdom,
but also blind spots.
And the parents are like, what's the matter with you?
Like, why would you cause trouble for yourself?
- Are you looking at what I'm looking at?
That is not acceptable.
- I was oppressed and permed, black girl like most.
It wasn't until after I was even out of college
that I decided I'm not gonna do this.
I'm gonna walk my own path and we'll see how this goes.
- [Klarke Pipkin] I grew up in predominantly white
elementary and middle school,
and Crystal goes to a school that's all white.
And she is somebody who takes pride in her blackness,
she takes pride in her big hair.
For me, I learned that it's unnecessary
to try to fit into a box.
- [Xavier Thompson] His mother was telling him that
he had to cut his hair and it kind of felt like pressure.
I had a relatable situation with my family.
I actually had dreads.
My family was always telling me to cut my hair.
I'm always questioning myself, wondering, you know,
would I have made it this far with my hair?
- Seeing the story, as we progress with him being biracial
and trying to fit in.
I have friends that are biracial.
It's just hard to see how they get it from both ends,
trying to figure out am I white enough or am I black enough?
- All of these things we talk about here, it's political.
And so that story about him wanting to get braids
has so much historical, cultural context
and a real social impact to it
that people need to understand.
- Come on Collin, let's get it.
- Really? Braids?
- Go on.
- You can talk about hair, you get into it,
but it's not hair, right?
Why does it matter? It's a proxy for power.
- In 101, there's all this clash between the family,
and by 106, Collins almost like,
I know you guys don't approve of this.
I know you guys don't approve of my relationship
with my blackness, but I still love it.
- Everything matters, the way that we are seen
and the way that we see ourself, matters.
So in this, you're going to see microaggressions
and also their historical context in larger aggressions.
- Part of what we're able to do with this
is give people those references and those pictures
of what this looks like.
So when it happens to them,
they can acknowledge it and better deal with it.
(hip hop music)