“You know this hair is my shit, rode the ride, I gave it time, but this here is mine,” sings Solange in the newly released "Don’t Touch My Hair." The track itself may be a soft, slow jam, but the lyrics speak volumes: In a time when, yes, some people actually ask to touch a Black girl’s hair as if it were some exotic, foreign substance; when schools are trying to regulate what Black girls can and can’t do with their strands; and when celebrities are put in a position to defend their choice to wear dreadlocks, the singer’s words are more potent than ever. The song from her upcoming album A Seat At the Table is not only spurring a much-needed conversation about race and culture, but it is inspiring young girls to copy Solange’s iconic album cover art, in which she shows off her gorgeous natural hair complete with colorful duckbill clips.
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One such girl is Ahnari, a 5-year-old with her own Instagram account and a #donttouchmyhair portrait that’s gone viral. The young performer posed just like Solange did for her album cover, with her curls on full display. “When you're a toddler but feeling Solange new album,” her mom captioned the post. In addition to the image being spot-on and insanely cute (somebody book this girl as a model, stat!), it's also a moving celebration of natural hair and a ray of hope for future generations — that they may not have to deal with the social and political climate that inspired the song.
Adults are getting in on the action, too. Stylist Hannah Burdy at L.A.’s Mèche Salon posted a similar picture of colorist Meagan Harris getting a Solange-inspired 'do, with scattered clips throughout.
In each instance, you can see the, “You know this hair is my shit” look in the girls’ eyes. Something tells us we’re about to see a stream of similar #blackgirlmagic images flooding our Instagram feeds in the near future. And we couldn't be more excited or inspired.