About SISTERLOCKS
Sisterlocks, Sisterlocks-XL, Brotherlocks
HER STORY
Sisterlocks is a trademark company founded in1993 by Dr. JoAnne Cornwell. The Home Office is in San Diego, California, and there are practitioners and Certified Consultants in over 40 states and in several countries. The company has developed an innovative approach to marketing its natural hair care system to African American women.
The company motto says it all: “Sisterlocks is not about a hairstyle, it’s about a lifestyle.” Sisterlocks invites women who are interested in self-empowerment and cultural self-expression, to embrace a natural hair care system that is self-affirming and truly gorgeou.
SISTERLOCKS ORIGINATOR & COMPANY, FOUNDER DR. JOANNE CORNWELL
Dr. JoAnne Cornwell is a Professor Emerita of Africana Studies and French at San Diego State University. She is also a third-generation entrepreneur and beauty specialist. She has researched African descended cultures worldwide and understands how deeply hair issues relate to cultural identity. This understanding was the driving force behind her decision to found her trademark company, Sisterlocks.
Dr. Cornwell was born in Detroit, Michigan where she remained through high school. Her passion for hair care began at age 4 when she produced her first braided hairstyle in her own abundant, very kinky natural hair. From that point on, she just had to do it herself. “I thought I knew what I was doing, and no one could meet up to my high, 4-year-old standards!” says Cornwell. By the time she was in college, she had become the person everyone else relied upon to do their perms, hot comb treatments, curls, braiding and whatever else had to do with Afro-textured hair care. Her grandmother had been trained in the CJ Walker tradition, and a lot of what she learned as a child came from this role model. Dr. Cornwell stresses that since the days of Madame Walker, hair care has been at the economic center of black people’s lives, and of our communities. “Vast numbers of our women and men made it over because somebody in their household stood in the kitchen over somebody’s hair.
“It’s a shame we no longer own the industry!” Dr. Cornwell adds with a touch of sarcasm, alluding to the fact that the majority of product the brands geared toward African Americans, as well as the majority of beauty supply stores that sell those brands, and especially hair extension companies nationwide, are owned by people other than African Americans.
Today Dr. Cornwell is considered a pioneer of the natural hair care industry. She continues to lecture on topics related to hair and cultural expression wherever she goes, carrying her message of self-empowerment and cultural celebration to enthusiastic women (and men!) throughout the country and abroad. She has appeared on numerous talk shows and on local cable and network programs, and has given interviews for a variety of radio stations and online podcasts.
The year 2023 marked the 30th year of the Sisterlocks Company. Now a corporation, Sisterlocks continues to innovate, teach and promote its groundbreaking natural hair management system.
NATURAL HAIR AND THE LAW
Dr. Cornwell is a Hair Bandit!
Many are aware that the practice of braiding, twisting, locking the hair that is so widespread in African American communities, was once against the law in most states. This is true unless, of course, the practitioner has a license in cosmetology.
For over 2 ½ years, Dr. Cornwell participated in a court battle in California over this highly publicized national debate: “What does appropriate training, certification or licensing for natural hair care practitioners look like?” Most braiders and locticians nationwide felt that their existing state cosmetology laws and practices, including curricula and testing, were – and in many cases continue to be – inappropriate for what they do. There have been lawsuits over this in dozens of states that have challenged or sought to change existing legislation. Today, many, many new precedents and regulations have been either updated or changed thanks to Dr. Cornwell’s landmark victory in California in 1999.
In 1997, Sisterlocks and the national association called the American Hairbraiders and Natural Haircare Association (AHNHA) filed a lawsuit against the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, charging that California law was unconstitutional because it did not conform to 14th amendment equal protection qualifications. Cornwell and AHNHA charged that there was no rational relationship between existing California legislation and the actual practice of natural hair care. The required 1600 hours of cosmetology training typically includes no training whatsoever in natural hair care. On August 18, 1999 a California Federal District Court judge ruled in favor of Dr. Cornwell’s position, which represents the position of literally thousands of natural hair practitioners throughout the state. This precedent-setting case has not only made life easier for many, but it has also protected the integrity of the cultural practice of “African hair braiding” from inappropriate tampering by an insensitive government bureaucracy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
01.How to find a consultant
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Sisterlocks is a celebration of
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unique brand of beauty.
