DAPPER DURAGS
Assimilation in Perspective
Creative Direction & Photography by Ashley Munro
The transition of young Black men into the professional space and corporate world is an initiation into adulthood. The abandonment of uniqueness and authentic identity is exchanged for wealth, status symbols, and “success”. The ritual of shaving one’s head elucidates this metamorphosis away from Black childhood and into Black male adulthood and the impact of how the hair that grows out of our heads, the clothing we use to express our culture, and the significance of brotherhood are skewed and distorted into '“negative” imagery despite attempts at assimilation.
We protect and defend our physical perceptions. There’s an awkward balance between protecting our hair, and the identities that we uphold in public settings, while not being able to don that same protective “armor” in those professional environments. Bonnets and durags are part of our culture, adorning our crowns and connecting us to our ancestry. These protective barriers don’t shield us from hate, discrimination, or judgement; often times they provoke it.
Muses (L to R): Darryl Baker, Jonathan Robinson, and Kwan Holloway