https://www.essence.com/celebrity/vashti-harrison-black-hair-challenge-gabrielle-union-illustration/

Gabrielle Union has received an immense amount of support following her recent controversial exit from America’s Got Talent.

It was announced last week that Union would be leaving the NBC hit show after her first and only season amid complaints of a “toxic culture” on the set. She left after expressing concern over offensive events, including a racist incident in which former late night talk show host Jay Leno made an inappropriate joke. 

But it also became clear that Union was also receiving feedback critiquing her hairstyles as being “too Black” for viewers.

Now in response, Black women on social media are reviving the #BlackHairChallenge to showcase the versatility of Black women’s hair. Among them, award-winning illustrator Vashti Harrison has also created a sweet meme in solidarity with Union.

Harrison, the illustrator behind the images in Matthew Cherry’s Hair Love book,showed off these hairstyles that we, as Black women, are blessed to be able to rock.

View this post on Instagram

We are versatile #BlackHairChallenge @gabunion

A post shared by Vashti Harrison (@vashtiharrison) on Nov 29, 2019 at 9:45pm PST

“We are versatile,” Harrison captioned the post on Instagram, while using the #BlackHairChallenge hashtag. The hashtag first trended in 2017.

From ‘fros to locs, braids to perms, it is clear that the flexibility of our hair, and the skill it takes to produce a lot of these ‘dos, are truly magic.

The post Best-Selling Illustrator Vashti Harrison Adds To #BlackHairChallenge In Support Of Gabrielle Union appeared first on Essence.