Here’s a book review by Colin Rickards:  The Politics of Black Women’s Hair by Althea Prince, sounds really interesting

Last October, African-American comedian and actor Chris Rock released a documentary film called “Good Hair,” a relatively light-hearted look at the billion dollar “industry” which is Black women’s hair. The idea for the film had been sparked by a question from his daughter: “Why don’t I have ‘Good’ hair, Daddy?”
Antigua-born Sociologist Althea Prince, who teaches at Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education in Toronto, is interested in the same subject, but her focus is different.
Already the author of a novel, a collection of short stories and another of non-fiction essays, Prince’s latest venture is a collection of essays called The Politics of Black Women’s Hair.
The material is drawn from her own keen-sighted observations, as well as from interviews and less formal conversations with Black women from the Caribbean, Canada, the United States and England.
Prince charts Black women’s “journeys” with their hair. She looks at how it is perceived, judged, and graded on the yardstick of Eurocentric standards of beauty … at hair as a fashion statement … at hair as a political statement … and, drawing from her life, as the mother of a daughter, suggests that hair provides a positive bonding experience,
Prince told SHE Caribbean that her book was more or less “in production” when Black hair suddenly “became an issue.” Among other things, “Michelle Obama ‘happened’,” she said. “So I added a chapter on people’s responses to her hair.”
The Sociologist in Prince is “very concerned about the children,” and the question comedian Rock’s daughter asked her father nags at her consciousness. She wonders aloud if Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughters will ask the same question.
There is a lot of serious stuff in this book – along with some philosophy. Prince explains that The Politics of Black Women’s Hair “takes one on a socio-cultural journey” – but says it is by no means “a litany of woe.” Publisher: Insomniac Press.www.insomniacpress.com