Long Jumper Blessing Okagbare jumped so high on the track that she literally snatched her own wig.
In a now viral video from her performance at the Oslo Diamond League, the athlete can be seen jumping an impressive 6.2 feet. However, as she glides through the air, her wig flies from her head and lands behind her body as she hits the ground.
Coel also captioned the short video with much-needed commentary on the history of Black women’s hair and overall beauty being policed.
“The real crime here is not that she was wearing a wig – as many of you do, as many of your girlfriends of ALL races do. The crime is that women are so judged and looked upon that she felt she couldn’t do her job without the illusion of long hair,” she wrote.
“Black women ESPECIALLY 4C type hair women are told that they can wear weave, but not wigs, that they can wear braids but not weave, that they can wear curly wigs but not straight ones. That they must create an illusion successful enough for men to be duped and continue living in their delusion. Then by others we are told: “Ohh you look so nice natural all the fake hair is not nice” and look how cute we look with Afro’s for White People to jizz over while they stroke it.”
A true read, indeed.
The moment (which you can read in full above) was just another teachable moment in the diversity and complexity of Black hair, and a reminder to secure those wigs down!