Black Identity Viewed from a Barber's Chair: Nigrescence and Eudaimonia

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By Bill Cross *76

Published June 7, 2021

In Black Identity Viewed from a Barber's Chair, Cross contrasts the self-hatred in societal representations of Black identity with the humanity of real Black people. He concludes that in the years after emancipation, former enslaved people were able to reveal their previously hidden inner lives and gain psychological, political, and cultural independence.

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PAW's October 2025 cover, featuring a photo of stuntman Kent De Mond ’07 with his back on fire.
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