Beauty Shop Politics

“In Beauty Shop Politics, historian Tiffany M. Gill takes readers from the turn-of-the-century golden age of black business in America through the height of the black freedom struggle to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Along the way, she focuses on the experiences of black beauticians and connects economic autonomy, entrepreneurship, and political activism within the black beauty industry… Gill’s analysis of the space of the beauty salon represents an important contribution to the historiography of the African American freedom struggle.” Joey Fink, H-Net Reviews “A tremendous contribution to African American history. Beauty Shop Politics demonstrates the central role of black women in the history of black business and shows how black businesswomen challenged the dictates of black male leaders in the worlds of business and civil rights.” Lynn Hudson, author of The Making of “Mammy Pleasant”: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco

Tiffany M. Gill is an associate professor of Black Studies and history at the University of Delaware.