“ Be A Samette Girl” references a hair advertisement from “The Dallas Express,” a Black-owned magazine that originated in the 1930s in Dallas, TX. The ad showed a light-skinned girl with straight, thick black hair. The product “Samette” stated it “makes the hair soft, smooth, long and beautiful. Try a Box. Learn the way.” These statements paralleled hair relaxer commercials like “Just for Me.” from my childhood. As a young Black girl, I struggled with my hair, which interested me in how the media influenced my ideals of Black beauty.

To process, I painted three 4FT by 5FT papers with ink to symbolize my body. Next, I coated a massive bundle of synthetic braiding in a puddle of white gesso-a representation of White beauty standards. Next, I dragged the material down the surface of each paper until the white marks began to fade. I repeated these actions until the hair unraveled and stuck onto the surface.