On 11 May, Sky News shared a story about a ‘spiky Coronavirus hairstyle’ that is “growing in popularity in Africa.”
Mo Abudu shared a picture of the article, condemning it in strong words and calling for African women all over the world to condemn the article. She wrote:
“Hello beautiful people,
“A recent publication made by @skynews on Monday 11, May 2020 titled “Spiky coronavirus haircut growing in popularity in Africa – here’s why” – has come to my attention and here’s what I have to say:
“For starters it’s not a haircut, it’s a hairstyle!!!
“Hair has played a significant role in the culture of ancient African civilizations. It symbolized one’s family background, social status, spirituality, tribe, and marital status.
“As early as the 15th century, different tribes used hair to show one’s social hierarchy. Members of royalty wore elaborate hairstyles as a symbol of their stature.
“Another thing to note is that Africa is rich with ancient hair traditions and styles. African threading dated as far back as the late 15th century and is a cherished tradition amongst women in parts of Nigeria, Ghana, and the entire Sub Saharan Africa.
“Generations of black women have used African Threading to style their hair and straighten it naturally.
“It is disrespectful to our African culture to say this hairstyle is recently gaining popularity because of the Corona virus or it is similar to a virus which is a major devastation to the world at present.
“I would like all African women to send a message to #SkyNews complaining about the post and report.
“@skynews, on behalf of myself and many other African women who have shown their displeasure of this post, I would like to urge you to take this post down as soon as possible. It is derogatory and condescending to us, our forefathers, our foremothers and generations to come.
“For future reference, @skynews kindly #Swipeleft to see pictures from over the years that shows the beauty of African women and our traditional hairstyles.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAPcl0uAyiY/?utm_source=ig_embed
Shortly after, Sky News changed the article to share that the news originated from Kenya. Mo then took to her Instagram page to share the new development while encouraging people to share their opinions on important things. She wrote:
“After my post and that of many others, highlighting an exploitative, sensational and grossly inaccurate news story by @SkyNews, this morning they have made substantial changes to both the headline and narrative of the article.
“The original headline was about a ‘spiky coronavirus haircut growing in popularity in Africa’. By the time they took note of all our objections, it had been revised to a Kenyan hairdresser offering what she calls a ‘corona hairstyle’. I felt so strongly that a story about a local neighborhood hairdresser in Kenya had somehow grown to encompass the whole of Africa and that a centuries-old hairstyle, with a fascinating history, had been reduced to a pandemic fad.
“My reason for highlighting this significant retraction and revision by @SkyNews is to show that our voices have power and we must use them whenever we feel marginalised, generalised and taken for granted by Western media.
“This was and remains my motivation for setting up EBONYLIFE MEDIA.
“Further, I have added images? from a number of world-class hairdressers that I know in Nigeria. They include @goodhairltd, @mywashandgo, @myextensionz_ng, @taupe_salon (Nigeria) @Blackcottongh @twistsandlocsgh(Ghana) #BeautySmithKenya (Kenya). This is to highlight, yet again, that as media we have the freedom to spin whatever we choose and you the reader must always be aware of this.
“Again for ease of reference I have added the picture that @skynewsdecided to use to tell their story compared to those I have selected to showcase world class hairdressers across the continent. I just selected a few from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAQPUTeDdLX/?utm_source=ig_embed
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