New book celebrates the traditions and indelible connections made during Laundry Day

Among the beauty rituals performed by Black women around the world, “wash day” could also be considered one of the most typical. A day dedicated to the care of curls, curls and other hairstyles that lots of us wear as natural and chosen crowns. Wash day is each an organic type of self-care and a helpful practice shared across generations.

Here’s dynamic photographer Tomesha Faxio, captured in “Wash Day: Passing on the heritage, rituals and love of natural hair to the next generation”, a gripping and intimate collection of photographs and essays celebrating this age-old but often underappreciated cultural touchstone. Based on the critically acclaimed 2021 documentary photo series of the same name, Faxio focuses its lens on 26 families, elevating the mundane to the sacred while difficult us to take into consideration how we take care of and share our natural texture it as activism in itself.

“Wash Day” celebrates the bonds formed between Black moms and daughters through stunning photos of their hair care rituals and insightful stories detailing their unique natural hair journeys. … From these stories, we learn the way some moms prioritize their kid’s comfort to show them that their hair shouldn’t be difficult or bothersome, while other moms simply encourage their daughters to like their big hair, even in the event that they struggle with it themselves with loving your individual. No matter where they’re of their journey, each mother featured in Wash Day is actively dismantling generations of internalized hatred towards natural hair, showing how this ritual will be each an act of self-love and a practice of resistance.”

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As Faxio and her characters confront texturization, self-image, and beauty standards, inspiring cultural pride, a deeply affirming narrative emerges. Published as Crown Act is increasingly distributed in states across the country, Wash Day is touted as “the first photo book to document and celebrate the ritual of wash day,” a visible testament against long-standing and systemic hair discrimination that has only recently been dropped at the public’s attention.

Especially timely as Mother’s Day approaches, “Laundry Day” celebrates the wisdom and sense of self often passed down from mother to child to society at large, reminding us that we actually get it from our moms.