Many braided hairstyles are aboriginal to Africans, including cornrows. In the black community as a whole, cornrow has been around for centuries. Several decades ago, braiding patterns and different hairdos were used to establish the identity of a person, based on the community, age, or marital status.
Cornrows have been in existence since 3000 BC, and it was referred to as canerows or cornrows to portray or mimic slaves planting sugarcane and corns. The hairstyle has been adopted by children, men, and women, from several races and ethnic groups. Here is everything you should know about cornrows.
What are Cornrows?
Some individuals can choose to call it boxer braids, but the most popular name for this hairstyle is simply cornrows. The look you will get after cornrowing your hair is typically flat-plaited. Having a Caribbean and African origin, they are similar to the appearance of rows of corn and cane.
How Did People Use Cornrows to Escape From Slavery?
It may interest you to know that this hairstyle was used as an escape route or map, which was used by so many women during the slave trade in Trans Atlantic. If they were not planning an escape route with their cornrows, they used it as a complex pattern to deliver signals of secret messages amongst themselves.
Even though cornrows were used to express messages and tactics, they also became the main show of freedom and liberty that many see and enjoy in today's world. According to the cornrow history of Columbia, King Benkos Bioho who was captured from Africa by the Portuguese used cornrows to weave routes and send coded messages.
He built San Basilio de Palenque in the 17th century in his country, Northern Colombia after escaping from his captives. He then created a personalized language and brought about the idea of women using cornrows hairstyles to weave routes and escape maps. Over centuries, many do not know about this history and the cornrow has since become a trendy hairstyle even in the 21st century.
How to Style Cornrows
If you love Dutch braids, then cornrows can be just as appealing and almost in the same category of hairstyles. Sometimes, cornrow hairstyles can seem a bit discouraging but if you are looking for fun braid styles, never get intimidated by the appearance of the cornrow. Many individuals can cornrow their hair without needing assistance from a stylist.
For the DIY purpose, you can create this style by obtaining one or more inches of your hair volume and sectioning it into three parts. Cross the right section under the middle hair section then repeat the process with the left one. You will have to repeat this until you have braided down to the end. If you leave any hair in the middle, it will no longer be cornrows but Dutch braids.