Decolonize Beauty

At DeColonaise Hair and Body, we honor the legacy of Annie Turnbo Malone not simply as a successful businesswoman, but as a revolutionary force who used beauty as a means of resistance to colonial domination. Born in 1869, at a time when the colonial capitalist system sought to define, control, and devalue African beauty, Annie recognized that the condition of our hair was tied to the condition of our freedom. She created Poro, not just to sell products, but to restore dignity, self-worth, and economic independence to African women. Through Poro, she built an entire institution; training, employing, and uplifting thousands, proving that when African women control our image and our labor, we control our future. Annie’s vision was decolonial: she turned beauty culture into a vehicle for liberation, collective wealth, and self-determination.