Moments in Black History – The Jheri Curl
Spring, 1980:
Stained shirt collars, ruined furniture, drip drops of oil, clear plastic caps, Super Freak.
None of these items would exist had it not been for one man: Jheri "Curly" Brooks of Cleveland, Ohio, who stumbled into global notoriety by creating the famous and glorious Jheri Curl.
The Jheri Curl created a national phenomenon sweeping through the African American culture. Black people all over the country seized bottles of Mr. Brook’s hair concoction. Even major black celebrities sported the look, from Billy Dee Williams to Tito Jackson to Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. The style was a sign of the times and a part of life. People looked good and felt good wearing it.
"Mutha f*cka is juicy like a mutha f*cka," said Terrell Green of Detroit, referring to his luscious locks beneath a homemade plastic cap trimmed with an elastic band. "Sh*t, this mutha f*cka makes a mutha f*cka a mutha f*cka!"
Jheri "Curly" Brooks stumbled upon fame and glory in the early 80's when a freak breakdancing accident turned into a cultural explosion.
"I was breakin' in a parking lot against another set and doing some iced out moves. Body-blockin' and hip lockin'. We didn't have no boom boxes so we parked our rides up close and threw down some mix tapes on the stereo. Well, my boy, Vernon's Cadillac was leaking oil all over the place. Mutha f*cka hadn't thought about fixin' that sh*t. A damn good thing considering. Anyway, I ended up doing a head stand and spinning all up in that oil sh*t, gettin' it all over my head and clothes."
The spin, coupled with a magnificent robotic move, helped Brooks straight up serve the opposing set that night, but the true highlight came the next morning in the form of deliciously wet, wavy, curly locks.
"Damn, mutha f*cka, is you cold, or is you cold, fool," asked Brook's older brother, Wesley, seeing him emerge from his bedroom the next morning. Brooks had no idea what his brother meant, having fallen asleep in his clothes the night before, following the heavily contested battle. He last remembered opening a new pair of Zip sneakers and falling asleep next to his desk lamp. Apparently, Brooks fell asleep with his afro tangled in the plastic Zip bag. Overnight, the bag amazingly absorbed the Cadillac oils, taming hair follicles; while the intensity of the lamp nurtured his scalp. The combination of chemicals and intense care transformed Brooks' afro into wavy locks and curls. "Damn, you is cold! Ice cold!"
Throughout the day, Brooks heard the comment time and time again as he walked his neighborhood showing off his new hairdo. All eyes were on him. "Hook me up, sucka," strangers pleaded; and, soon, he began treating the scalps of family, friends, and strangers. Before long, the entire city of Cleveland had Jheri's Curl, which he called his new style.
Only months later, Brooks, in his wildest imagination, could not imagine his curls were spreading across the United States. Everyone had Jheri's Curls---black, white, male, female, young, old. From normal everyday people to well known celebrities and professional athletes. The nation was donning his hairstyle.
"Sh*t was incredible! I went from the ghetto to a deluxe apartment in no time! I even partied with JJ Walker! Eventually I changed the name from Jheri's Curl to just plain Jheri Curl 'cause too many mutha f*ckas kept trippin' and calling it Jerry's Kids' Curls. That sh*t ain't funny. But when you make it big, people always gots to find something to make fun of - and the style was so fresh and so clean, the only thing they could trip on was the name. Didn't matter though - I still got paid.....and I'm still gettin' big bucks, no whammies presently."
Brooks has shunned opponents who insists the Jheri Curl is "too messy" and a "lazy man's hairstyle". He demands his style makes, as his clientele insist, a mutha f*cka feel like a mutha f*cka. Besides, he adds, "When's the last time you seen a pimp with corn rolls? N-E-V-A.....neva....and pimpin' ain't easy, bitch."
Whether you agree or disagree, Jheri "Curly" Brooks is a black pioneer and true American hero. His freak accident certainly unlocked a world of beauty for us all to marvel for years to come.
"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie extoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids -- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible; understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and anything except me." Ralph Ellison
