This 1970s poster, possibly for a salon or beauty parlor, was created at a particularly dynamic time in the rich, complex history of Black hairstyles in the United States. As the author Pia Velasco writes, “A decade aesthetically defined by afros, braids, and beaded cornrows, Black women in pop culture like Cicely Tyson, Floella Benjamin, Patrice Rushen, Miriam Makeba, and Bern Nadette Stanis (aka Thelma from the hit sitcom “Good Times”) were influencing hair trends across the diaspora. Cowrie beads dangling from intricate cornrow patterns harkened back to our African origins, a vision rendered into an imagined Utopia for Black Americans still dealing with violent and racist oppression.”

The photolithograph portraits, composed in a honeycomb format, have been affixed to a board. We have been unable to find another printed use of the accompanying caption, an inversion of the rallying cry, “Say it loud - I’m black and I’m proud!” Here, the text suggests that instead of “saying it,” women should “just do it,” and manifest Black pride through hairstyles rooted in African tradition. Furthermore, as the poster is from the 1970s, it predates Nike’s use of “Just Do It,” which was first coined in 1988.