The 'great moments in black hair'

>> favorite part.

>>> now it's time for the part of the show i'd like to call great moments in black hair . those handful of moments when black hair became an iconic issue. they dared anyone to deny that black hair is not beautiful who could forget the audacious afro of angela davis ? who in 1972 was found not guilty of murder charges after j. edgar hoover added her to the fbi's most wanted list. no hair accessory is more readily recognized than the gardenias of billie holiday , many consider her the greatest jazz artist whoever lived and black moments of black hair wouldn't be complete without diana ross and someone who has dedicated his life by working with social justice by working to stay fabulous, my fellow msnpbc host and friend of the show, the reverend al sharpton . my guests are still here. i wanted to add one last great hair moment, and it's one that is much more personal. the images we're coming across, talking about racial divide, how difficult it can be to walk with white friends, family, colleagues and we found these terrific photos of professor greene of emory university , an adopted daughter from africa and taken the responsibility of being her main hair care person and all these gorgeous pictures of him braiding her hair. and she's sitting between his legs in exact that will moment that so many of us had with our mothers over the years, we were doing a cheer that went something like go, white daddy, go. a beautiful job of doing this young girl 's hair.

>> amazing.

>> and the picture calls to mind so much, because we think about how white people talked about hair and see him do her hair, this moment in which we can move past, and i think it also says something to his daughter too. my father accepts me. and i think for a lot of women, this issue of acceptance of how our fathers accept us, how our boyfriends and husbands accept us, has a lot to do from my hair. i know the kind of looks i got from men when my hair was straight veis-a-vie my hair is like this. and that's perfectly acceptable.

>> i had the exact opposite. when i cut my hair, i stopped traffic. men speak to me all the time now. it's the christ yearaziest thing. i think i look like myself. the whole -- i don't look like i'm trying to be somebody else maybe and that's a certain kind of beauty.

>> speaking of staying together, you do have a product. i don't want to go away from this.

>> part of the hair issue, the surgeon general came out and talked about hair and health, and i really wanted to be part of the solution, and i realized that i couldn't convince all my relaxed sisters to go natural which say whole new freedom in and of itself, but i could encourage them to find ways to take care of themselves and keep their hair, so i created a sweat band for us that really worked. i had to think about it and test it and test it on myself and friends and blind study groups, and came up with save your do. and it really -- really gave women a way to take that walk, get on the treadmill, and not be so afraid of the gym.

>> people think we are crazy, right? the surgeon general said we're not working out, literally dying, because of our hair.

>> literally dying. you should not be having a stroke at 27 years old.

>> exactly.

>> and no way. walking is free. not about gym memberships or cute outfits, it's about taking care of yourself and having the freedom to do that.

>> if you have to save your do to go for a walk, you should.

>> and it came out, new colors, so we can be extra cute.

>> i love it.

>> in a moment, what diversity actually looks like. first, time for a preview of "weekends with alex witt ."