Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. We all got taught this as children, but as adults I think we can understand how completely untrue that statement is.
Words can really hurt, and they can leave long lasting damage that runs far deeper than a cut or a broken bone. So, when Chris Rock joked about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s ‘GI Jane’ hair - a comment about the fact that she has a shaved head due to alopecia - it wasn’t just a harmless joke.
His words made a mockery of Jada’s condition and were harmful to many other women and girls with medical conditions that affect their hair growth.
But it runs deeper than that: there is a long and problematic history in society and the media around Black women’s hair, and around the fact that Black women are stereotyped if they speak their mind.
Read more on ok.co.uk