A Tale of Friendship and Beautiful Hair

Afro hair is steadily gaining momentum as more and more women of colour across the world opt to wear their hair naturally, a transition that has as much psychological value as commercial value with mega chain stores and manufacturers rushing to expand their African hair products offering .

Here in South Africa, the consciousness of natural African hair is growing and one of the voices leading in the affirmation of African hair is Lebohang Masango a Master’s candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Witwatersrand. She is also a children’s book author, feminist, poet, freelance writer and social commentator.

Lebohang authored children’s book, Mpumi’s Magic Beads (self-published under Thank You Books) a delightful book about friendship, self-esteem, discovery and beautiful hair in Joburg city. It follows the sudden adventures of Mpumi, Asante and Tshiamo as they see the world around them from new heights and realise all of the fun waiting to be discovered outside of their classroom. This story is a great read for the whole family, especially children aged between 5 – 10 years old

The book has been translated into all of South Africa’s official languages. She regularly hosts storytelling sessions for children in schools and community libraries.

Her research interests include gender, popular culture, representations and new digital media. Her Honours’ ethnography, aptly called Of Hair and Brown Girls: Beauty and Femininity in Pretoria, explores race and femininity through hairstyling practices, self-imaging, whiteness and regulations for African girls in a Tshwane primary school.

Among Lebohang’s achievements and accolades, she was a member of the Feminist Stokvel, a group of women who hosted public conversations regarding natural hair.

She recently participated in the South African Book Fair 2018  in the Keorapetse Kgositsile Poetry Café, #OURSTORIES on the page, mic and stage, where audiences were treated to a feast of intergenerational voices in indigenous languages.