African Cornrows

• Cornrows use 4 geometric concepts: Translation, Rotation, Reflection, and Dilation
• Cornrows date back to 500 B.C. 
• Cornrow hairstyles in Africa also cover a wide social terrain: religion, kinship, status, age, ethnicity, and other attributes of identity can all be expressed in hairstyle.
•  Mathematics is also a traditional part of African hairstyles.
• The braid patterns were commonly based on African tradition and styles.
•  Madame C.J. Walker invented a system for straightening hair without the damage caused by other methods. She became the first black millionaire, and donated thousands of dollars to the NAACP and similar groups. 
• “Many West African hair styles are worn by Negro women in the United States, including this one—“cornrows.”  The hair is greased, combed, and tightly plaited.
• As the Afro began to wane in the 1970s, cornrows were on the rise.
• In the 1990s hip-hop artists from Ludacris to Lil’ Bow Wow could be seen with cornrows, and stylists continued to develop new innovations in cornrow braiding, best known from celebrity styles like those of basketball star Allen Iverson.